Drinking White Wine Raises Your Risk of Developing Rosacea

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While it’s common knowledge that red wine can trigger rosacea flare-ups, a new study points to white wine as a potential reason women may develop the skin condition in the first place. Researchers studied data from nearly 83,000 nurses in the U.S. and found that women who consumed one to three glasses of white wine a month had a 14 percent increase in the risk of developing rosacea, while women who drank five or more glasses a week increased their risk by 49 percent.

The study, which was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology today, also looked at liquor and red wine consumption. Liquor drinkers saw an 8 to 28 percent increase, while red wine was not proven to be a significant risk in rosacea development at all.

That red wine might only provoke flare-ups and not trigger the onset of the condition itself may be due to red wine’s abundance of anti-inflammatory properties. These may stymie rosacea development, but irritating histamines, which are also in red wine, may contribute to flushing in individuals who already suffer from rosacea. Curiously, the study made no mention of rosé wine, which everyone knows is the best wine of them all.