Why Do I Sweat When I Drink Red Wine?

You may be asking yourself this question if you’ve ever experienced facial flushing. On the surface, facial flushing might feel cosmetically embarrassing at most and may not come with any other dangerous symptoms. For those with an enzyme deficiency, facial flushing can occasionally be experienced with increased onset of nausea or vomiting because of your body’s inability to fully digest the alcohol you’re consuming.

A drink will warm me up

For those living with excessive sweating, changing socks frequently can also help avoid a build-up of bacteria that contributes to bad odor. In order to reduce body odor due to hyperhidrosis, it is important to keep skin clean and practice good hygiene. Regularly washing the affected areas with mild soap and water can help remove sweat and bacteria.

Why Your Face Gets Beet Red When You Drink

Tannins, compounds found in grape skins and seeds, are more prevalent in red wines. Some individuals may be particularly sensitive to tannins, which can cause a warm or tingling sensation. This sensitivity, combined with alcohol’s effects, can heighten the overall feeling of heat when drinking red wine. Some individuals may experience a more pronounced warm feeling or even facial flushing after consuming alcohol. This reaction, commonly known as the “Asian flush” or “Asian glow,” is due to a genetic predisposition where the body has difficulty metabolizing alcohol efficiently. Additionally, the temperature at which you consume wine can also impact how it affects your body temperature.

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If you’re interested, we go into further detail about these symptoms in our more general article about alcohol intolerance. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans defines “moderate” drinking as up to one drink a day for women and up to two drinks a day for men. People who flush when they drink might have a faulty version of the aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) gene. ALDH2 is an enzyme in your body that helps break down a substance in alcohol called acetaldehyde. But without enough of this enzyme, you can end up having too much acetaldehyde in your body, and this makes alcohol reach toxic levels much earlier in your cells. Inconsistent flush reactions can be due to various factors, including alcohol type, quantity consumed, and individual tolerance.

As a result, acetaldehyde accumulates in their bodies, leading to the symptoms of a hot flush. While hot flushes can be normal in certain situations, such as wine makes me hot during menopause, they can also indicate underlying health issues and alcohol misuse. Alcohol also increases urination, which makes your body lose water along with sweat and can lead to dehydration.

Treatment options vary depending on the cause and severity of symptoms. Drinking alcohol also causes blood vessels in your skin to dilate (widen). This results in increased blood flow to the skin, which can also give a sensation of warmth. Yes, staying hydrated by drinking water while consuming wine can help reduce the warming effect of alcohol.

The Truth About Alcohol and Body Temperature

• Excessive sweating can be an unpleasant side effect of consuming alcohol.
• It is worth noting that the concentration of melatonin in wine is relatively low, but it may still contribute to the overall relaxing effect.
• Sweating due to dehydration or over-consumption of alcohol can be easily remedied by consuming more water and cutting down on how much alcohol you consume in one session.
• When mixed with alcohol, they can cause a buildup of acetaldehyde, a toxin that makes you feel flushed, sick, and ready to swear off alcohol altogether.
• For example, alcohol can increase the production of the stress hormone cortisol, which can disrupt our sleep and lead to night sweats.

The hypothalamus (a region of the brain) is responsible for controlling the nervous system and body temperature. Alcohol impacts the brain and changes body temperature, and one may sweat due to this. It is also known that alcohol acts on the process of long-term potentiation – the way in which neurons remodel the connections between them after learning. So alterations in both alcoholism treatment REM and slow wave sleep after drinking may potentially disrupt the brain’s memory processes.

For those who experience debilitating migraines following a glass of red wine, the most likely culprits are congeners, says Leslie Bonci, a registered dietitian and sports nutritionist. These substances occur naturally in most types of alcoholic drinks, including red wine. Congeners are chemical byproducts of fermentation and they give the beverages their distinctive flavors.

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A number of different substances found in all wine can cause these ‘allergic-like reactions’, Bonci says. Sulfites, which winemakers in the United States sometimes use to keep wine from spoiling, are often to blame for wine-induced sniffles. Sulfites are not only found in wine, but also in many types of foods. Parmesan and other aged cheeses are on the list, so sulfite-sensitive folks are no fun at wine and cheese gatherings. “For people who are sensitive to sulfites, they might notice wheezing and coughing, and might even get a stuffy nose,” says Bonci. If you experience severe sweating that does not subside, seek help from a licensed medical professional.