Why you fall asleep from red wine

Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the gourmands at online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat it and what to cook. This time our cheffies serve you: why you fall asleep from red wine.

‘Red wine makes you tired’ is a phrase you often hear and that is also the reason why some people prefer to drink white wine or beer instead of Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo or that great Australian Pinot Noir. But getting tired from red wine, how does that actually work?

Friday nights no longer consist of wild drinking sessions, ending up at McDonald's to stuff two portions French fries down our throats. No way, nowadays we sit (hashtag boring!) on the couch under our pizza blanket watching Netflix, sipping on a glass (or let's be honest: bottle) of red wine. And while we are far from living a vibrant life these days, we can barely keep our eyes open after half an hour. That must be the red wine, right?

The truth
For everyone who is now also thinking: damn, I always get tired from red wine too: we’ll tell you right away that this is actually not the case at all. Or well, there is no scientific evidence that there is a different substance in red wine than in white wine that would make you doze off faster. But still, it is recognizable for many people and here's why.

The research
A study from 2017 published by BMJ investigated this phenomenon. 30,000 people from 21 different countries participated in the research. During the study, participants had to drink different types of alcohol such as red wine, white wine, beer, and spirits. They had to indicate whether they experienced positive feelings like confidence, energy, and relaxation, or negative feelings like tiredness, aggression, nausea, and restlessness after drinking. The outcome: more than half of the participants felt tired after drinking red wine.

Spirits
So you are not the only one who feels tired after red wine. And it’s precisely in the word feel that it lies. As mentioned: there is no scientific evidence that red wine is actually more sleep-inducing than white. It’s about the feeling that you and thousands of other people get when drinking it. If you are looking for the drink that gives you the most energy (according to 60 percent of the participants), you might as well have a glass of spirits like this splendid Hennessy X.O or the liqueur Orangecello .