Wine enthusiasts, occasional wine drinkers, or those looking to start to incorporate more wine into their drinking rotation should be fully aware of just what exactly is in wine, and all of those ingredients can affect people differently, even cause some health risk, possibly allergies. Health.com sat down with Jim Harbertson, PhD, who is an associate professor of enology at Washington, State University, to help decode exactly what is going on in that wine label.
By the way enology means the study of wine.
Stop whining though, we got you covered on the 7 main things in wine affecting your health.
1. Sulfites
Sulfites are typically added to wine in order to protect it from oxidation or nasty microbial growth. It will keep your wine fresh, and hopefully will not turn your fave bottle into vinegar over time. The problem with this ingredient, is it can cause sneezing, headaches, and other allergic reactions and symptoms. While it is noted that only a small amount of the population will suffer from these types of negative reaction it still could be affecting your body, even with symptoms do not show. The FDA requires clear labeling of “contains sulfites” on wine bottles if the food contains more than 10 parts per million of sulfites. Sullfite free could be the way to go from now on when looking for your next good bottle.
2. Histamine
This little nitrogen based compound is a very common allergen, typically causing inflammatory responses in the body. Unless you are buddy-buddy with the wine maker this will be tough to figure out if the wine has this in it. That is because it is usually caused by the second fermentation which helps sooth our all the acidity and texture. Some of the wine makers are very aware of the concern, and have gone to great lengths to ensure their wine is free of histamine, even labeling their bottle as not undergoing malolactic fermentation.
3. Tannins
Sometimes after taking a sip of your favorite type of vino it can leave your tongue feeling dry, and that sensation is caused by the tannins. Mostly caused by the grapes themselves, these little micro-nutrients are disease fighting when consumed in certain foods and drinks, but with wine its health benefits are very limited with the way it bounds up in the salivary proteins and your digestive tract. Full big bodied red wines contain the most tannins, and typically these are the names that you should check out if interested: Bordeaux, Shiraz, Barolo, oe Barbaresco.
4. Resveratrol
This antioxidant is found within the skin of grapes, and many beauty products claim to have anti aging properties. There is a higher concentration in red wine of resveratrol versus white wine. Either way the concentration is pretty low, so finding this source of antioxidants elsewhere is probably a good idea, although drinking wine technically does not hurt in this regard.
5. Heavy metals
Who will not find this on any label, but heavy metals ,a dn metal compounds are found within wines, and can adversely affect your health. “the FDA has been monitoring heavy metals in wine and has indicated that concentrations are lower than would require regulation.” That is more good news for wine drinkers.
6. Low alcohol
Lately there has been a huge increase in wine makers slapping this label on their bottles, which would mean being able to drink more wine without getting as intoxicated. Lighter taste, less calories, so that means if you love having a few glasses of wine, and do not care so much for the buzz, maybe think about this low calorie option, could save you some time in the gym.