For the record

“[a] new study suggests red wine headaches might be caused by a combination of alcohol and a certain polyphenol, an antioxidant called quercetin [from red grape skins].

To arrive at their hypothesis, researchers looked to another known cause of alcohol-induced headaches: a genetic variant that is common in people of East Asian descent and that leads to headaches, flushing and nausea if they drink alcohol. The variant interferes with how the body processes alcohol, leading to a buildup of a harmful compound called acetaldehyde.

“In small amounts, we can handle” acetaldehyde without feeling sick, says Lara Ray, a psychology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who specialises in alcohol use disorders and was not involved in the study. But when alcohol isn’t metabolised properly, “the body then shows this aversive response”

Apparently quercetin impedes metabolism of acetaldehyde.