Many people experience an odd facial flushing, almost like rosacea or acne rosacea, when they drink wine. Some people are a little more averse to red wine than white, but some experience flushed, hot skin from drinking either variety of wine.
People who actually have rosacea often have their condition aggravated when they drink alcohol of any kind, but especially when they drink wines.
It was thought at first that the reason for the facial flushing was because of the sulfites in most wines. Sulfites are really just a type of preservative that most wines have in them for a longer shelf life. You can buy wine without sulfites, but it is usually a little more expensive.
Now, they are showing in some research that the sulfites in wines may actually not be to blame for most of the cases of facial flushing from drinking wine. Rather, they think it may be a tiny organism within the wine that is a biproduct of fermentation that may produce the allergic-type reaction that occurs in certain drinkers.
Many times the facial flushing that occurs with drinking wine is very noticeable, and therefore can cause some embarrassment and self consciousness from the drinker. After all, facial flushing is not something anyone wants, hence the many natural treatments for rosacea these days.
Often times people of European descent with very light skin are more susceptible to wine facial flushing that those with darker complexions. This is because you can see through to the multiple veins, capillaries and tiny blood vessels under the skin in people that are fairly complected, making it a much more noticeable problem on them.
If you experience facial flushing when drinking wine, but just enjoy wine too much to give it up, try a sulfite-free wine instead and see if that might be the cause for your flushing. It’s worth a try, and it’s better for you since sulfites are a preservative and preservatives really aren’t good for your health.
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