Alcohol Allergies and Intolerance
June 16, 2025

Just as treatment for an alcohol allergy requires total abstinence, recovery from an alcohol use disorder calls for the same. Talk with a treatment provider today to begin your road to recovery. Alcohol allergy symptoms can range from mild, such as an itchy mouth or eyes, to severe, including vomiting or anaphylaxis. The immune system overreacts to this exposure in the body, treating alcohol as a threat. The body produces antibodies, and when they encounter alcohol, they set off a systemic allergic reaction.

What Are the Symptoms Of An Alcohol Allergy?

Depending on your symptoms, they might refer you to an allergist for testing and treatment. An allergist is a special type of doctor that focuses on allergic conditions. It’s possible to develop an alcohol allergy at any point in your https://www.worldoffashionista.com/is-it-ok-to-drink-alcohol-while-trying-to-conceive/ life. Sudden onset of symptoms may also be caused by a newly developed intolerance.

Who might have alcohol intolerance?

If in doubt, ask your allergy specialist for advice about the types of alcoholic beverages you can or cannot drink. There is little evidence that distilled spirits made from corn, including bourbon, pose a risk to people with corn allergies or intolerance. Even so, if you have alcohol rehab a severe corn allergy, you may want to avoid corn-based spirits, most especially bourbon. Gin, whiskey, brandy, and some vodkas may also use corn as an ingredient or flavoring, so be sure to check the label. Alcoholic drinks high in sulphites and/or histamine include wine (red, white, rosé and sparkling), cider and beer.

  • If you do choose to drink wine, white and rosé are your best options.
  • You may notice that even after drinking a small amount of alcohol, you don’t feel great.
  • The highest prevalence (35-40 percent) is among in people of East Asian descent.
  • If all alcoholic drinks affect you, it is probably an exaggerated response to the alcohol itself or an exacerbating effect on your underlying condition.
  • However, only two of the 68 participants have a medically diagnosed allergy.

Essential Facts You Need to Know About Allergies

whiskey allergy

If the reactions return with specific drinks, then you know which ones cause problems for you. Most people who have a reaction to alcohol aren’t allergic to it. They don’t have one of the active enzymes needed to process alcohol — alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) or aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). The fruit (grapes, apples, juniper berries, coconuts, and oranges), flavours (hops) or grain (malt) from which the drink is made can also be the cause of a true allergic reaction. However,  fruit and other plantderived allergens are mostly destroyed by whiskey allergy processing.

whiskey allergy