More and more people are looking for natural and organic wines, many of them because they are tired of the adverse reaction sulfites in wine have in them, or so they tell me.

Most have not gone to the doctor, or had any allergy test made, so how can they know the sulfites are to blame? They don’t! But if you look at any wine bottle, the only chemical component that appears on the labels, sometimes the only component, is sulfites, so it must be the culprit of all evil.

From the moment fermentation starts to when we open a bottle of wine at home, a lot of chemical reactions take place, some of them changing what is in there, imagine converting sugar into alcohol without being Jesus, and that is only the start.

When the wine is aged in barrels, the contact with wood, add new components to the wine; some wineries add or expose the wine to other components, some natural (eggs, charcoal,…) some others not so much, like artificial chemicals to help with the flavour, aroma or even thickness of the wine.

Legally, in most countries, wineries only need to list if the wine contains sulfites, as most of the other chemicals are used in very small quantities; however, some people just need a trace of something to get an allergy, a headache, an unpleasant reaction. Let’s have a look at what experts say.

Dr Taylor Wallace says “Sulfites are naturally found in a variety of foods, including but not limited to tea, peanuts, eggs, and many fermented foods. Sulfite additives serve a dual purpose in most foods. They help to prevent browning and discoloration of food and also act as antimicrobial agents, particularly effective in preventing mold growth.

You may find sulfite additives at higher levels in foods like baked goods, juices, dried fruits, jams, jellies, and sausages. Wine contains about 10 times fewer sulfites compared to, for instance, dried fruit. So, if you don’t get a headache when eating these foods you probably don’t have a sensitivity to sulfites.”

Dr. Frederick Freitag, associate director of the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago and a board member of the National Headache Foundation says "Sulfites can cause allergy and asthma symptoms, but they don't cause headaches. Many winemakers also add small amounts of sulfites to their wines to help preserve them and to kill wild yeasts that can ruin a wine's taste. "I grow a small number of grapes and make my own wine," says Dr. Freitag, "and if you don't do something to shut down the native yeasts and bacteria that come in with the grape skin, you're going to get wine that is absolutely horrific. Sulfites are the most benign way of doing that, but they don't cause headaches."

Dr. Freitag, who has studied the health effects of wine for more than a decade and makes Riesling from the 18 vines in his yard, adds, along with other researchers, that other substances that contribute to the flavor and special characteristics of wine, such as congeners, are also suspect. Even the wood in which the wines are fermented or aged can make a difference. "Some people are sensitive to the differences in the growing regions. Some can drink a California red wine but God help them if they drink a French Bordeaux or Burgundy," Dr. Freitag says. "There are different characteristics of the soils that are picked up and translated into the chemical mix in the grape itself."

The amount of tyramine varies depending on the type of grape, Dr. Freitag says. "Riesling is one of the higher tyramine-containing wines," he says. "Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs are low ... Chiantis are higher than Rieslings, Sauternes are low and Bordeaux are low. Californians are, as a rule, pretty low.

Dr. Dan L. Keiller, president of the newly formed Medical Wine Interest and Education Society in San Diego, says several studies from Europe show that "red wines, in general, contain more histamine than Champagnes or sparkling wines and those usually contain more histamine than [still] white wines."

People who most often have trouble with histamine in wine, Dr. Keiller and others say, are those who lack an enzyme in their intestines that can help them metabolize histamine. Tyramine, meantime, can cause your blood pressure to rise, and that triggers headaches in some people. These same people might get headaches from aged cheeses, smoked or cured meats, and citrus fruits.

So if sulfites are not blame for your unpleasant reactions when drinking wine, what is? There are several possibilities, and as every person is different, it may be one or several of the following that affect you.

Some people are sensitive to tannins in products like wine, tea, and dark chocolate. If you are sensitive to tannins then avoiding aged red wine, tea, and dark chocolate should solve your issue. Tannin sensitivity is again likely a small portion of the population.

Histamines in red wines can constrict and then dilate blood vessels, leading to a headache. Some people lack adequate amounts of the enzyme (i.e., diamine oxidase) needed to fully metabolize histamines. You may already be familiar with histamines – they are one of the substances in the body that mediate allergic reactions (i.e., many allergy medications are “anti-histamines”).

Tyramine is a compound made from the breakdown of the amino acid tyrosine, during fermentation. It’s also a chemical released by your brain to act on your neurotransmitters and hormones. Tyramine is part of your body’s natural fight or flight response and you’ll find it often accompanies histamines in many fermented foods, like aged cheese.

There is some research that indicates psychological issues also are important. Several researchers noted that people responded differently to substances that cause them headaches depending on their state of mind, which might explain, in part, the-wines-on-vacation syndrome. Think about the common question: Why does Champagne give me such a headache? Maybe the answer is that the bubbles carry alcohol to the bloodstream faster. But maybe part of the answer is that people drink more Champagne than they think they do during the festive occasions at which it's often served, and aren't eating food with it.

Bob Green, an owner of Union Square Wines and Spirits in New York City, points a finger to crude alcohol in cheap wine. When sugar is added to grape juice to produce alcohol to boost the alcohol content of a wine, it creates a less pure kind of alcohol, he suggests, and that helps trigger headaches.

What can you do?

If you want to enjoy wine, and who doesn’t? but you have had enough of the bad reactions, you may want to do some allergy test to see what exactly is the problem. Other than that here are some tips:

Drink water before, or as, you drink wine. Wine can dehydrate you, which can itself lead to headaches.

Consider taking an antihistamine before drinking wine, advises Dr. Roshini Rajapaksa, in an article on Health.com. But check first with your doctor!

Try to go for organic, vegan wines, as those are likely to have less added chemicals or even none. Remember most organic and vegan wines, although have sulfites, those come naturally from fermentation, without wineries adding more.