Often find yourself struggling after one or two drinks? No matter what you're drinking, be it wine, cider or something a bit stronger, you could be allergic to alcohol completely. Here are some of the symptomsso you can see for yourself.
Discover our latest podcast
Do you go red-faced? this may be a sign that a liver enzyme (aldehyde dehydrogenase), essential for breaking down alcohol, is affected by a genetic mutation. Therefore, it's harder foralcoholto leave the body meaning that the effects of one drink have a more profound effect on the body.
Do you experience tingling sensations in the eyes or nose? this could be due to a reaction to an allergen, found in some alcohol. For example, some sulphites or other components ofred wine(yeast, hops, wheat etc...).
Do you get migraines, your heart rate increases or you have diarrhoea? these reactions may be related to your intolerance to one or more of the 12 most common allergens found in alcohol.
But don't panic as there are several things you can do to counter these really annoying issues:
- Take blood or skin tests to find out what, if anything, you are allergic to.
- We all like a good drink or two, so if you don't want to give drinking up entirely, just be reasonable and try not to drink as much.
- Check the packaging for the list of ingredients in the alcohol that you buy: by doing this, you'll know if a specific brand or drink contains things that you are allergic to.
- If you want to identify which types of alcohol you can drink, just pick one type for each time you go out drinking. This way, you'll be able to see if you display any symptoms and therefore you will know if you're allergic.
