De-alcoholised wine and AF: Has anyone... - Atrial Fibrillati...

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De-alcoholised wine and AF

Finvola profile image
22 Replies

Has anyone tried these - especially the ones Sainsburys sell? The alcohol content is 0.5% which should be OK, but I wonder about the sulphur dioxide which is used as a preservative. I have had a couple of glasses each evening for the last few days and today have been in and out of AF all day - the first time in 6 weeks - so I'm casting around for a culprit. The only dietary change I've made in that time is the de-alcoholised wine, which is quite nice. :(

I'm homing in on the preservative which I think should be avoided by AFibbers (?), but any thoughts would be most welcome.

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Finvola profile image
Finvola
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22 Replies

I'm drinking the Sainsbury's every night, usually red. But it's not 0.5% alcohol, it's 0.05%, i.e. nothing. It has no effect on me at all and I haven't put on weight in fact I'm keeping trimmer than when I used to drink the real stuff.

I find it very nice having got used to it.

And what's more it's £2.50 a bottle :-) , and their alcohol-free champagne, which is also pretty good, is £2.75. We celebrate something every week now, anything we can think of :-) .

Koll

Finvola profile image
Finvola

Thanks Koll - my mistake, it is 0.05% and I agree it's very nice and much better than apple juice which I had been drinking in place of the real mccoy

BobD profile image
BobDVolunteer

I found years ago that alcohol free beer had the worst affect on me. The problem is that they make these things in the normal way and then use reverse osmosis to remove the alcohol. I many cases it isn't so much the alcohol which affects us I believe as the enzymes produced during fermentation which will remain after the alcohol has been removed. Trial and error really with these matters.

Bob .

in reply toBobD

You are right Bob, i have stumbled on something that causes me to occasionally have palpitations (not necessary AF) and that's histamine. (Personally i can have benign irregularity now and then, but if my electrolytes are off, that's when i get in trouble)...

Researching finds that wine, fermented foods, aged cheeses (all the things i love :) ) and many other foods are high in producing natural histamines. The stomach lining (or intestinal) is supposed to have enzymes called DAO and HNMT which binds & metabolizes the histamines. If one is low in these enzymes, don't produce enough, the body cannot metabolize the histamines. Also wine has something that inhibits whatever DAO is there. It's called histamine intolerance and is different than allergies, and one of the body responses is arrhythmia.

That said, there are work arounds. Vitamin C, B6 help the body produce more DAO. There are certain probiotics that protect these enzymes. Also you can, through diet restriction, lower the histamine level in your body, so that when you want to have an occasional glass of wine, or piece of wonderful cheese you don't send the histamine level over the limit. There are also DAO pills...some people swear by them, but they are very expensive. It's a matter of experimentation because everybody reacts in their own unique way, but worth it if you enjoy food and this is an issue for you.

Buffafly profile image
Buffafly in reply to

Hi, that is very interesting, can you say where you found this information? I have suspected that wine etc disagree with me in other ways so I'd like to read more. I try to avoid preservatives in drinks because of my asthma.

in reply toBuffafly

I don't remember where i first stumbled across it but if you google Histamine Intolerance you will find a plethora of articles. Here are two good ones, but there are many, and then you can follow up on the DAO information the same way. Good luck.

mindbodygreen.com/0-11175/e...

foodallergies.about.com/od/...

in reply to

p.s. make sure you type in DAO not DOA which is "dead on arrival". lol

Buffafly profile image
Buffafly in reply to
lingooz profile image
lingooz in reply toBobD

My surgery nurse backs that up

That's interesting Bob. With me I think it's the alcohol. I can drink over a bottle of this Sainsbury's AF wine without any affect at all. If I did that with normal wine I'd end up in hospital. I also drink Becks Blue AF beer, same again, no affect at all (on me).

I think AF wine has come on lately. You can buy it for £10 a bottle if you want. Never tried it though, prefer £2.50 and the £10 bottle might be too nice and I don't want to be tempted, ignorance is bliss, and cheap !!

fallingtopieces profile image
fallingtopieces

If you're looking for a sulphite free wine, Marks and Spencer do a decent range of red white and rose. I think it's called 'Naturae' or something similar. Red wine in general is naturally lower in sulphites and sulphites are definitely another known trigger of AF.

Pat.

in reply tofallingtopieces

Yes, the Sainsbury's red wine (haven't looked at the whites) says it contains sulphites. It doesn't seem to bother me though but it might be masked by the pills I'm taking?

Japaholic profile image
Japaholic

I drink zero alcohol beer, it allows me to feel a bit more normal without the risk of an AF attack. Not really a wine drinker so cant comment. Luckily Japan has a great range of alcohol free beers including dark ales and stuff thats supposed to be like Guinness but isnt!

lingooz profile image
lingooz in reply toJapaholic

Love your name lol

I like the idea of that alcohol-free champagne. Must make a little trip to Marks and Spencers! Thank you everyone, this is most illuminating! I didn't realise they used RO to get rid of the alcohol... fascinating...

Lis

fuzzflyer profile image
fuzzflyer

Cheers

Therealsue profile image
Therealsue

I've not tried the AF champagne so I must look out for that. I'm a fan of Sainsburys AF wine but haven't tried the red. I also like Becks Blue.

cbsrbpm profile image
cbsrbpm

Oh dear the thought of wine with no alcohol gives me the shivers, LOL! Must say though that wine has never been a trigger for me and I have re introduced my two small glasses in the evening, most days, even though I am at the moment in persistent AF, it hasn't made it worse neither has it put me back in SR. Since doing this though the Warfarin levels have started to rise finally and at this rate might get in range sooner as it was going up by 0.1 per week despite increased weekly dose.

Finvola profile image
Finvola

I know how you feel cbsrbpm - but I got so fed up with apple juice and feeling like a party pooper that I decided to give AF wine a try. Sainsbury's is the best I've tried so far - the red felt flat at first but is fine now that I'm used to it. The white and rose are lemonade-y but pleasant enough - will definitely try the champers too.

I found a website which compared everyday foodstuffs with wine regarding sulfides. Dry red has the lowest at 50 parts per million, other wines about 7 times as much and frozen chips(!!!) 40 times as much. Dried fruit - massive amounts at 70 times.

Thank you to everyone who replied - sounds like it's a matter of experimenting as Bob said - perhaps cut out the oven chips and drink the well-named AF wine!

Jomack profile image
Jomack

I really miss my red wine! So what's the bottle of red in sainsburys called please? Oh and the champagie one? Thanks Jo xx

Finvola profile image
Finvola

Hi Jo - the wines are called Red, White and Rose dealcoholised wines, made in Germany and in my Sainsbury branch they are stocked in the wine shop - cruel eh? The champers was alongside these wines but I didn't notice the name. Perhaps have a look on Sainsbury's website - search under dealcoholised wine. Nope, just tried it - search under alcohol free wine!

Try this link if it works !!!

sainsburys.co.uk/sol/global...

We just celebrated with another bottled of AF champagne tonight. We celbrated last night as well, can't remember what for though :-) , but at £2.75 what the hell.

PS> Tip for drinkers of alcohol free wine. Make sure your neighbours know it's alcohol free because the bottles really pile up in the plastic bin outside!

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