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Health

29th Jun 2018

These are the drinks to avoid to keep hay fever at bay

Some are worse than others.

Anna O'Rourke

It may be rosé/ pints/ bag of cans weather, but unfortunately it’s also hay fever weather.

A drink may be all that’s on your mind but sadly enjoying you favourite tipple of a summer’s evening could make your hay fever symptoms a whole lot worse.

It’s all down to the fact that alcohol contains histamine, the same substance that’s released in the body when you have an allergic reaction.

It causes sneezing, itchy eyes, a runny nose and other pesky hay fever symptoms.

Alcohols can also contain sulphites, a by-product of alcohol production, which are known to exacerbate hay fever, among other allergies.

But thankfully all is not lost as some alcohols are better than others when it comes to making your hay fever worse.

Asthma UK has warned that darker, fermented drinks are worse for histamine and sulphites.

 “White wine and cider tend to have high levels of sulphites, while red wine and some beers have high levels of histamine,” it said.

“Clear spirits like gin and vodka are better options… as they’re very low in histamines and sulphites.”

As if we needed another reason to have a G&T this evening.