How you could be allergic to your glass of ワイン - and it can even 原因（となる） difficulties breathing

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As I climbed the steps that lead up from my 地元の beach, I had a sudden 発覚: I wasn't wheezing and nor was I breathless. 普通は, after such a climb, I'd be feeling it in my 肺s, breathing ひどく, chest tight, but I was 絶対 罰金.

At first, I せいにするd it to my strict 固守 to my 喘息 nurse's 最近の advice to vacuum more 定期的に, to keep dust levels 負かす／撃墜する, and to change my bed sheets every week without fail.

I was 診断するd with 喘息 in my late 30s but it was very 穏やかな ― and （機の）カム and went ― until about five years ago.

Then, two years ago, the tightness in my chest and the wheezing より悪くするd その上の after I bought a charming, but dusty, period house on the Kent coast. Soon after moving, I had to 交換（する） the blue (salbutamol) reliever inhaler I'd used for １０年間s to a new, more powerful inhaler for 穏健な-to-厳しい 喘息.

But にもかかわらず literally taking a clean sweep to my home and buying an 空気／公表する purifier, my symptoms didn't really 改善する much.

Then something else occurred to me. That 突然に 平易な climb （機の）カム after I'd kicked off 2024 by throwing myself into 乾燥した，日照りの January ― and then I'd felt so much better I kept going into February. Along with the （疑いを）晴らす-headedness and 上げる of energy, was it possible that giving up my nightly glass or two of ワイン had helped my 喘息, too?

Having had no ワイン for 井戸／弁護士席 over a month, I decided to do some 研究.

Bingo! There it was in 黒人／ボイコット and white on the アレルギー UK website. Sulphites ― 化学製品s that are 追加するd to ワイン to 保存する it and 妨げる bacteria from growing ― can 影響する／感情 asthmatics and make symptoms worse. Yet no doctor or nurse has ever flagged this to me.

同様に as ワイン, sulphites are used to 保存する some foods, typically cured meats and 乾燥した，日照りのd fruits. It seems that when sulphites 連合させる with stomach 酸性の during digestion, they 解放（する） sulphur 二酸化物, an irritant gas that can then come 支援する up and 原因（となる） inflammation in the 航空路s and difficulty breathing.

'喘息 is a 肺 条件 原因（となる）d by inflammation of the 航空路s, and can be 始める，決める off by a number of things, most 一般的に pollens, 汚染 and ウイルスs,' explains Dr Andrew Wittamore, 喘息 specialist and 臨床の lead for 喘息 and 肺 UK, who is also a GP in Portsmouth.

'But there are other 誘発する／引き起こすs, 含むing dog and cat hair, 演習, smoke and sulphites and histamines in alcohol.'

He 追加するs that sulphites are most 一般的に 設立する in ワイン, and histamines in beer.

But as Dr Wittamore points out: '認識／意識性 of how sulphites in alcohol can 原因（となる） 喘息 is sadly very low.'

Around 5.4 million people in the UK have 喘息, and there can be a genetic link.

Along with using preventative inhalers to 減ずる inflammation, 避けるing 喘息 '誘発する／引き起こすs' is a 重要な part of how the 条件, which has no cure, is managed.

That sulphites in ワイン are one such 誘発する／引き起こす is 広範囲にわたって 受託するd, によれば renowned 喘息 and アレルギー specialist Professor Sir Stephen Holgate, of Southampton University.

'It is more ありふれた than most people 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる,' he says. 'Adult-onset 喘息 can be 誘発する／引き起こすd by sulphites in beer but おもに ワイン , which 含む／封じ込めるs large 量s of sulphite to 保存する it. Both are potent 興奮剤s for 喘息.

'When the 航空路s become inflamed, the muscle around the 気管支の tubes 契約s and 狭くするs the 航空路s. Some asthmatics find the sulphites and histamines in alcohol also make them more susceptible to other 誘発する／引き起こすs, such as smoke or pollen.'

And it's a ありふれた problem. One in three of 366 asthmatics who took part in a 2000 熟考する／考慮する at the 喘息 and アレルギー 研究 学校／設ける in Perth, Western Australia, 報告（する）／憶測d that alcohol had 誘発する／引き起こすd at least two 穏やかな to 穏健な 喘息 attacks, and that ワイン was the most ありふれた 犯人.

The 研究員s 結論するd that 'sensitivity to sulphite additives in ワイン seems likely to play an important part in these reactions'.

Margaret Kelman, a specialist アレルギー nurse with アレルギー UK, says there has been a 重要な 増加する in ワイン drinkers 報告（する）／憶測ing sulphite アレルギー in 最近の years, かもしれない because as a nation we now drink more ワイン.

'Around two per cent of the 'normal' 全住民 have a sulphite アレルギー, but around 15 per cent of asthmatics find sulphites constrict their 航空路s,' she says.

'It can be 即座の, but most often the 航空路s start to 契約 after the ワイン 攻撃する，衝突するs the stomach,' she explains.

'Anaphylactic shock ― a very serious allergic reaction with symptoms 含むing 無（不）能 to swallow, difficulty breathing and even 崩壊（する） ― is 極端に rare as a result of drinking ワイン with sulphites, but it can happen and it can be 致命的な.'

The problem is that people often don't make the link with sulphites. As Dr Whittamore points out: 'Many people will have an 喘息 attack after 存在 exposed to 多重の 誘発する／引き起こすs.

'For instance, they may be sitting in a pub garden having a dri nk after walking in the countryside and have a reaction, but think it was something in their surroundings that 誘発する／引き起こすd it.'

After my own eureka moment, I decided to 実験（する） my theory and drank two medium-sized glasses of white ワイン. Sure enough, the next morning I was wheezing. So that was it.

現実に, and fortunately, I did not have to give up ワイン altogether ― just 非，不，無-有機の ワイン. Because it turns out it's not ワイン itself that makes me wheeze ― it's the way it's produced. All ワイン 含む／封じ込めるs some 自然に occurring sulphites as they are part of the fermentation 過程, but 集まり-produced ワイン 含む／封じ込めるs 付加 sulphites to 保存する it.

White ワイン 含む／封じ込めるs higher levels than red, as the grape 肌s in the latter 行為／法令／行動する as a natural preservative so より小数の sulphites are needed.

非，不，無-有機の white ワイン has around 100 mg of sulphites per litre, red around 50-75g. The ワイン with the lowest level of sulphites is 恐らく prosecco, but I 設立する it still made me wheeze the に引き続いて day.

Both Dr Wittamore and Margaret Kelman believe that 製造業者s should put a 警告 on ワイン 瓶／封じ込めるs 説 sulphites can 影響する／感情 your breathing.

The good news is that 有機の ワイン shouldn't 含む／封じ込める any 付加 sulphites, though they can still be problematic for those with a 厳しい sulphite アレルギー.

So better still is 'sulphite-解放する／自由な' ワイン, which 含む／封じ込めるs いっそう少なく than 10 parts of sulphites per million parts of alcohol. Sulphite-解放する／自由な ワイン is now readily 利用できる from supermarkets, 含むing Aldi, Sainsbury's and Waitrose.

ワイン importer Jane Honeyman, 58, began selling sulphite-解放する／自由な ワイン online from her home 近づく Colwyn Bay in むちの跡s 15 years ago, after 以前 giving up alcohol herself because her reaction to sulphites became so 激烈な／緊急の.

As she 解任するs: 'I'd have a tight, wheezy chest, go very red in the 直面する, and I had an itchy, runny nose. It made me feel awful. It was very 明白に the ワイン because the symptoms （機の）カム soon after I drank any.'

Jane, who no longer needs to use her 喘息 inhaler, 追加するs: 'Sulphite-解放する／自由な ワイン costs a bit more ― ours start at about £13 a 瓶／封じ込める ― as it is more expensive to produce. But it tastes different, better, because it is made from only natural 成分s.

'Since deciding not to (knowingly) drink 非，不，無-有機の ワイン, I'd say my 喘息 symptoms are about 75 per cent 減ずるd.

'I now need only one puff of my Symbicort inhaler in the morning and one in the evening, instead of the usual two, twice-daily puffs of salbutamol, as was my 決まりきった仕事 for 20 years. And いつかs I forget it 完全に, which would never have happened before.'

People with 喘息 looking at the labels on food and alcohol to 避ける sulphites need to look for the preservatives E22-28, as these numbers 示す sulphites are 現在の, によれば アレルギー UK.

And here's some 元気づける news: アル中患者 drinks that are distilled rather than fermented, such as gin and vodka, are sulphite-解放する／自由な.

How you could be allergic to your glass of ワイン - and it can even 原因（となる） difficulties breathing