Migraines are a rather common ailment. In the US, 18% of women and 6% of men had at least one migraine attack in the last year. While migraines can affect people of any age, they are more likely to occur between puberty and the age of 40.
Alcoholic drinks can cause two kinds of headaches if you have migraines. The first is a migraine within a few hours after drinking. The other is a delayed hangover headache. Research has shown that people with migraines drink less alcohol because alcohol is a migraine trigger.
In some cases, drinking alcohol can cause a migraine attack 30 minutes to three hours later. A delayed alcohol-induced headache (DAIH) will usually happen the following day. DAIHs can affect anyone who drinks alcohol, but people with migraines are more susceptible.
Drinking red wine in small amounts can have some benefits for your heart and health. However, red wine is considered one of the primary migraine triggers.
Red wine has a history of being linked to headaches. Celcius, who lived between 25 BC and 50 AD, described his own head pain after drinking wine. Red wine may be a headache trigger because of the presence of phenolic flavonoid radicals, which are more common in lower-quality wines.
Whatever your drink of choice may be, drinking too many alcoholic beverages can lead to painful migraines. This is typically enough to keep people with migraines from drinking very often.
Because of these effects, migraines are an unlikely condition to help you avoid alcohol. But when the negatives outweigh the benefits, it's a good idea to do something to prevent the problem.
Remember that you don't have to explain your decision to avoid alcohol, especially in a social setting where people may not know about your migraines. As you get older, you may even see your friends without migraines drink less because of the overall headache-inducing effects alcohol can have on them.
Turning down alcohol can have other significant benefits for your overall health as well, including improved heart and liver health.
