Read the ingredient lists of foods and drinks, ask restaurant staff for information about menu items, and avoid products that contain alcohol. If you have an alcohol allergy, your immune system over-reacts to alcohol. If you have alcohol intolerance, your digestive system doesn’t process alcohol properly. You might also react to certain alcoholic beverages if you have a histamine or sulfites intolerance. In very rare cases, reactions to alcohol may be a sign of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. An allergic reaction to food usually happens within a couple of hours.
While just about anything can trigger an allergic reaction, some things (like a bee sting, peanuts, and certain foods) are more likely to trigger allergic reactions than others. If you have symptoms after drinking beer, but not after drinking wine or other alcoholic beverages, it’s not alcohol intolerance. More likely, you’re allergic to or sensitive to a particular ingredient in that beer. Sulphur dioxide is particularly common in home brewed-beers and wines as sodium metabisulphite. This is used in the cleaning of equipment and remains in very high levels in the brewing process.
How can I prevent alcohol intolerance?
Sue Quinn explores the telltale signs of intolerances and allergies, the difference between them and what to do if you think you’re affected. The primary difference between an alcohol allergy and an alcohol intolerance is the reaction each produces. Alcohol allergies are caused by the immune system and intolerance is a reaction from the digestive system.
It’s also found in many foods and beverages, especially fermented products. For example, aged cheese, smoked meats, sauerkraut, wine, and beer tend to be high in histamines. Whiskey is one of the lowest calorie alcoholic beverages out there—so long as it’s consumed straight allergic to whiskey and not combined with sugary mixers. If you’re counting calories or trying to lose weight, choosing whiskey over a higher-calorie alcoholic beverage can help you stay within your daily goals. If you’re allergic to a specific grain, beer won’t be your only problem.
Can you suddenly develop alcohol intolerance?
While rare, people with grape allergies should avoid wine and grape-based liquors, including brandy. Even less common is an allergy or intolerance to corn-based liquors like bourbon. People with sulfite allergies will likely need to avoid red wine. Similarly, those with a mold or yeast allergy may need to steer clear of fermented beverages made with brewer’s yeast, including beer and wine. If you experience headache, flushing, itching, or congestion after drinking red wine, it may be because you have histamine intolerance. Antihistamines like Allegra (fexofenadine) and Zyrtec (cetirizine) can help alleviate histamine intolerance symptoms.
- Your healthcare provider can order this test or you can purchase one through private vendors.
- Your healthcare provider can recommend ways to limit unpleasant symptoms.
- If you are suffering from an ALDH2 deficiency, drinking alcohol may cause your face to become red and warm.
- Symptoms of an allergic reaction to LTP usually appear within minutes and include swelling, itchiness, digestive problems, breathing difficulties and, in extreme cases, anaphylaxis.
- They are most likely to occur in people who have mold allergies.