How you could be allergic to your glass of wine - and it can even cause ... trends now
As I climbed the steps that lead up from my local beach, I had a sudden revelation: I wasn't wheezing and nor was I breathless. Normally, after such a climb, I'd be feeling it in my lungs, breathing heavily, chest tight, but I was absolutely fine.
At first, I attributed it to my strict adherence to my asthma nurse's recent advice to vacuum more regularly, to keep dust levels down, and to change my bed sheets every week without fail.
I was diagnosed with asthma in my late 30s but it was very mild — and came and went — until about five years ago.
Then, two years ago, the tightness in my chest and the wheezing worsened further after I bought a charming, but dusty, period house on the Kent coast. Soon after moving, I had to swap the blue (salbutamol) reliever inhaler I'd used for decades to a new, more powerful inhaler for moderate-to-severe asthma.
But despite literally taking a clean sweep to my home and buying an air purifier, my symptoms didn't really improve much.
Lynne Wallis was diagnosed with asthma in her late 30s but it was very mild - and came and went - until about five years ago
Then something else occurred to me. That unexpectedly easy climb came after I'd kicked off 2024 by throwing myself into Dry January — and then I'd felt so much better I kept going into February. Along with the clear-headedness and boost of energy, was it possible that giving up my nightly glass or two of wine had helped my asthma, too?
Having had no wine for well over a month, I decided to do some research.
Bingo! There it was in black and white on the Allergy UK website. Sulphites — chemicals that are added to wine to preserve it and prevent bacteria from growing — can affect asthmatics and make symptoms worse. Yet no doctor or nurse has ever flagged this to me.
As well as wine, sulphites are used to preserve some foods, typically cured meats and dried fruits. It seems that when sulphites combine with stomach acid during digestion, they release sulphur dioxide, an irritant gas that can then come back up and cause inflammation in the airways and difficulty breathing.
'Asthma is a lung condition caused by inflammation of the airways, and can be set off by a number of things, most commonly pollens, pollution and viruses,' explains Dr Andrew Wittamore, asthma specialist and clinical lead for Asthma and Lung UK, who is also a GP in Portsmouth.
'But there are other triggers, including dog and cat hair, exercise, smoke and sulphites and histamines in alcohol.'
He adds that sulphites are most commonly found in wine, and histamines in beer.
But as Dr Wittamore points out: 'Awareness of how sulphites in alcohol can cause asthma is sadly very low.'
Around 5.4 million people in the UK have asthma, and there can be a genetic link.
Along with using preventative inhalers to reduce inflammation, avoiding asthma 'triggers' is a key part of how the condition, which has no cure, is managed.
That sulphites in wine are one such trigger is widely accepted, according to renowned asthma and allergy specialist Professor Sir Stephen Holgate, of Southampton University.
'It is more common than most people appreciate,' he says. 'Adult-onset asthma can be triggered by sulphites in beer but mainly wine, which contains large amounts of sulphite to preserve it. Both are potent stimulants for asthma.
Sulphites - chemicals that are added to wine to preserve it and prevent bacteria from growing -can affect asthmatics and make symptoms worse
'When the airways become inflamed, the muscle around the bronchial tubes [in the lungs] contracts and narrows the airways. Some asthmatics find the sulphites and histamines in alcohol also make them more susceptible to other triggers, such as smoke or pollen.'
And it's
