So there’s some bad news about all that white wine you’re drinking, we’re sorry to report
It’s basically summer, which means it’s white wine and rosé season. Delicious, right? Well, if you have sensitive skin, you might want to check out this new study that says white wine increases your risk of getting rosacea. Researchers looked at data from just over 80,000 nurses in America and discovered that women who have one to three glasses of white wine a month (a month!?) were 14 percent more likely to develop rosacea, and those who consumed five or more glasses a week were nearly twice as likely to develop the skin condition.
If you already have rosacea, you might have already heard that red wine can bring out flare ups, but this study found that this isn’t true at all. They looked at the same kind of data for liquor and red wine drinkers. The instances of rosacea rose 8 to 28 percent for liquor drinkers, but there was no more risk for red wine drinkers.
Wen-Qing Li, the study’s senior author and assistant professor of dermatology and epidemiology at Brown University, thought it was interesting that they found a difference between alcohols: Red wine does contain more flavonoids, which are anti-inflammatory, which is why it probably doesn’t affect your skin as much. She added that genetics also plays a role in rosacea flare ups, so if your mom has it, and she’s been pouring one out every day after work, you’re more likely to develop the skin condition.
Since they only looked at women, the researchers aren’t sure if it’s the same for men. But keep on sipping your frosty white at happy hour if you enjoy. Rosacea is often not that big of a deal, except it can get uncomfortable if you get the bumpy, acne-like version. And once you have rosacea, you have rosacea. It doesn’t always flare up, but when it does there are topical creams that can generally take care of it. At least now you know, if you have rosacea and hate the breakouts, choose a red wine. Or find another summer cocktail.