Overview
About Alcohol
Alcohol load grades ingredients by the strength of the drink or dish as you consume it, from trace ferments such as kombucha up to wine, spirits and liqueurs.
In the data
Where you will find alcohol
- Moderate histamine liberator with mild histamine of its own, which is why a spirit can bring flushing, a blocked nose or a headache faster than the volume suggests. Alcohol both prompts histamine release and interferes with the diamine oxidase that clears it
- Histamine grades C and the alcohol suppresses DAO, so a dram taken with cheese is a compound exposure rather than a single one
- Cask strength bottlings can be over 50 percent alcohol, so a dram poured by eye may be nearly double a standard measure
- Histamine grades C, and the alcohol blocks the DAO enzyme, so a rum can hit harder than its own histamine number suggests if you already ate something histamine rich
- Low fermentation SIBO grades D and anti inflammatory grades E, which is the usual alcohol penalty rather than anything specific to cane spirit
- Poor for SIBO (grade D) and strongly pro-inflammatory (grade E), which is the alcohol talking rather than the agave
Examples
A few ingredients either way
Grading
How we grade alcohol
Every ingredient in the database carries one grade for alcohol, and this page, the checker and the app all read that same grade. It describes the ingredient as it is usually eaten. Portion size and preparation move it.
Practical
Working with alcohol
- Compare drinks by strength rather than by volume when you are tracking a reaction.
- Watch the trace sources, such as kombucha, kefir and vanilla extract, if you are avoiding alcohol entirely.
- Keep a detailed food and symptom diary to track your personal reactions
- Eliminate the suspected trigger completely for 2-4 weeks
- Reintroduce gradually to find your personal tolerance threshold
- Work with a healthcare provider or registered dietitian for guidance
- Remember that food sensitivities can change over time
Method
Test it with a diary
Most people find their own triggers by logging meals and symptoms for a few weeks and reading the result back. Three steps.
- 1Log every meal for a few weeks. Type it, say it out loud, or scan a barcode, and it lands as a list of ingredients.
- 2Rate how you feel through the day on whatever you are tracking, whether that is bloating, headaches, skin or sleep.
- 3Read the pattern back. Every ingredient you logged is scored against the days you felt worse, and the result ranks alcohol against everything else you eat.
Questions
Questions people ask
Which hard liquor is best if I react to alcohol?
Clear, unaged, unflavored spirits like vodka and plain gin tend to be the gentlest, because they carry the least histamine, sulfite and congener load. Aged spirits (bourbon, whiskey, brandy) and anything sweet or heavily botanical carry more. Whatever you choose, keep the pour small, since the alcohol itself is the main driver.
More about hard liquorRead next
Where to go next
Get started
Tracking alcohol?
Log what you eat and how you feel, and the app finds the pattern for you. Or look an ingredient up here first.