sca-cooks Farmgirls Version

[Terry Nutter]

Hi, Katerine here.  Ealasaid writes:

>I too react to some wines, usually reds, because of the sulfates.  They
>trigger migraines!!!

Actually, the substance in wines that triggers migraines for many migraine
sufferers is tyramine.  (There are a lot of tyramine-containing foods.  Most
migraine sufferers will get migraines from one or more of them, but which
depends on the person.  I have no problem with any but red wines, which 
reliably give me a migraine if I drink more than 1 to 1 1/2 glasses.  They
don't give me migraines in sauces -- but then, I rarely consume more than
the equivalent of 1 1/2 glasses of a sauce!)

There are many things that could cause reactions of various kinds to
various wines.  One person has mentioned sensitivity to sulfa and
sulfa drugs.  Another thing that was a problem back in the early
80s, but is far less so now, is sodium disulphite (or bisulphite,
I forget precisely; both exist, and are different).  This is the
stuff that was used in some wines, on salad bars, on fries, and
various other stuff as a preservative, until they discovered just
how many people respond anaphylactically to it.  It's bad for
business to kill the customers; after a fair amount of press, most
sources dropped the stuff like a hot rock.

If you don't know what exactly it is that you respond to, it's hard
to predict whether cooking the wine will help.  If your response is
serious, simply avoid.  If it's mild, experiment.

Cheers,

- -- Katerine/Terry