New Technology Tells You If a Particular Wine Will Give You Headaches!

Let's face it. There wasn't 'just one glass' too much…last night you scored a new record and you cannot even remember how you got home. And now you're saying "It's the last time I do that!"… of course… until the next time.

Now, a new device made at University of California, Berkeley, and described in the journal Analytical Chemistry, could help you avoid the tremendous hangover, more specifically the "red wine headache."

The new device can easily spot chemicals suspected to turn wine and other beverages into the cause of your next day 'punishment'. Tyramine and histamine are believed to be the main culprits, but more research is required to establish this with certainty. This type of molecules, named biogenic amines, are included naturally in many aged, pickled and fermented aliments, like wine, chocolate, cheese, olives, nuts and cured meats. "The food you eat is so unbelievably coupled with your body's chemistry," said co-author Richard Mathies.

Even if more research is required, many specialists advise us to stay away of amine rich foods if we want to avoid headaches, known to induce sudden episodes of high blood pressure, heart palpitations and increased adrenaline release. "The detector could prove useful to those with amine sensitivity," said Beverly McCabe, a clinical dietitian. "The prototype - the size of a small briefcase - uses a drop of wine to determine amine levels in five minutes," said Mathies.

He co-founded a company to develop a smaller device the size of a personal digital assistant that everybody could take to restaurants and check the amine levels in their beverages. Tests found the biggest amine quantities in red wine and sake, while beer was the had the lowest such levels. Now, the technology works only with liquids, but it could be also used to label amine amounts in marketed beverages. "We're aware of the consumer demand for information. But that has to be tempered by the manner in which wine is made", said Wendell Lee, general counsel for the Wine Institute, a California industry trade group.