Why white wine could be doing you more harm than you think

It’s patio season, which means a cool glass of chardonnay will top the list of guilty pleasures for many Canadians as things heat up. But unlike its unsuspecting sister, red, the consumption of white wine has landed a bad rap lately — and it’s partly our fault.

Despite being 13 per cent ABV (alcohol by volume), white wine is known for its easiness sip down — and frankly, we’re drinking too much of it. Andrew Misell, a director at charity Alcohol Research U.K., says: “White wine doesn’t have strong flavours, so for many it’s an easy way to unintentionally drink too much. That’s what makes it problematic.”

Illustrating the rise in consumption, Statistics Canada reported that “wine sales increased 3.3 per cent” in the past year. That’s an average of “24.4 bottles of wine sold per person over the legal drinking age in Canada” for 2016.

With that in mind we’re taking a look at some of the reasons why a glass of white wine might not be as harmless as you think.

CANDIDA

During her podcast, Chef Gizzi Erskine revealed that she has stopped drinking white wine for good. The reason? It triggers her candida. A yeast infection that causes chronic fatigue, depression, joint pain and impairs basic gut function.

Nutritional therapist Emma Cockrell agrees that white wine’s high sugar content could cause, or at the very least agitate, the condition.

“If you drink white wine on a regular basis – combined with other factors such as having taken antibiotics, having been pregnant when hormone fluctuations upset the balance of microbes in the gut, or experiencing stress – a glass of wine a night can very easily tip the balance. Candida is fed by sugars, and wine is a great source of that,” she tells The Telegraph.

ROSECEA

A recent study by Brown University in the U.S. found that even small amounts of white wine can increase your chances of developing rosacea. A survey of 83,000 women showed that just one to three glasses a month raises the risk of the inflammatory skin condition by 14 per cent. Five or more white wines a week upped that to 49 per cent.

Dr Nick Lowe, consultant dermatologist at The Cranley Clinic in London, narrows it down to the alcohol content of white wine acting as a “vasodilator” – something that widens the blood vessels in the skin.

“When you enlarge the blood vessels, your facial redness increases,” he tells The Telegraph. “All people will get it from alcohol to a degree but some are genetically predisposed to be blushers or flushers. There is also a group of people whose skin reacts very vigorously to higher levels of sulphites in the white wine.”

WEIGHT GAIN

The charity Drink Aware compares wine to junk food proving just how calorific it is. One small 175ml glass contains 160 calories. A large glass (250ml) with 228 calories is the equivalent of an ice cream cone.

A 2014 study showed that regular wine drinkers consume an excess of 2,000 liquid calories a month, with alcohol contributing to around 10 per cent of their total calorie count. Drink Aware says “alcohol reduces the amount of fat your body burns for energy.

While we can store nutrients, protein, carbohydrates, and fat in our bodies, we can’t store alcohol. So our systems want to get rid of it, and doing so takes priority. All the other processes that should be taking place (including absorbing nutrients and burning fat) are interrupted.”

ALSO SEE: Mom sheds 150 lbs. after kicking her candy addiction

LIVER DISEASE

According to the Canadian Liver Foundation, factors such as gender, age, weight and health can affect how a person’s liver metabolizes alcohol and knowing our bodies is important.

“When the liver has too much alcohol to handle, normal liver function may be interrupted leading to a chemical imbalance. If the liver is required to detoxify alcohol continuously, liver cells may be destroyed or altered resulting in fat deposits (fatty liver) and more seriously, either inflammation (alcoholic hepatitis) and/or permanent scarring (cirrhosis). Liver cancer can also result from alcohol induced liver disease.”

ALSO SEE: These are the fruit and vegetables with the most pesticide

DEPRESSION

Sulphites has become a buzzword when it comes to wine. These are naturally-present compounds in grapes but have also been added to wine for hundreds of years as a preservative, thanks to their antioxidant and antibacterial properties.

Most modern wines typically have 20 to 200 parts per million (PPM) and anything containing more than 10 PPM must say so on the label. Anecdotally, sulphites have been linked to “drinking blues” and depression, as well as allergies, asthma, bad dreams and headaches.

Sweet white wines typically contain the most sulphites, as more are added to halt the fermentation process. Another reason why a night on the white might make that hangover worse than usual.

Let us know what you think by tweeting @YahooStyleCA!