Wine Hangover
Tips On Getting Through a Wine Hangover
How is a wine hangover different from a beer hangover? Or a champagne hangover? An excess consumption of alcohol is the culprit in all cases, but how is a wine hangover different?
More than seventy-five percent of people who consume alcohol say that they have experienced a wine hangover. When you get drunk from wine, you are affected by a molecule type called congeners. These are a fermentation by-product when red wine is made, and may be found in red wine in high quantities. Basically, these congeners are present in higher concentrations in all of the darker liquors.
The effects of wine or any other liquor can vary quite a bit from person to person. When you drink wine, if you are normally prone to headaches, you may have worse headaches. This is especially true if you drink red wine. You may also suffer from a wine hangover that is more intense if you are sensitive to sulphur dioxide. This is an agent of anti-oxidizing properties that is used in most wines, to help keep them fresher.
All wines have a maximum level allowed of sulphur, and organic wine producers usually use less sulphur. So they might be easier on you than wines from larger distilleries. Some people feel that drinking organic wine gives them less of a wine hangover.
One rule of thumb followed by some drinkers is that the better the wine tastes, the less likely a wine hangover is. Obviously, this is not a hard and fast rule, and it won't apply if you drink great quantities of any wine. The cheaper wines tend to cause more of a hangover, and the more expensive wines cause less. Sad but true, so if you can afford a better wine, go that route. Overall, if you drink a lesser quantity of a more expensive wine, you'll spend the same amount as drinking a lot of a cheaper wine, and you'll also be lessening your chances for a hangover.
When you're drinking wine in excess, it causes your body to inhibit its supply of vasopressin, which normally stops your kidneys from secreting water. With a low concentration of vasopressin, your body will secrete its entire water supply. This causes dehydration.
That is the main cause of the headaches you normally get in a wine hangover. Your body is dehydrated, so it will pull water from everywhere, including your brain. As the fluids leave your brain, the membranes are tightened, resulting in headache pain.
If you mix wine and whiskey or beer, that's a sure way to worsen a wine hangover. Many people blame the last drink they had for their resulting hangover, but all the drinks before the last one play a role, too.