Mulled Wine Myths Vhecked: Are The Rumors True?

Christmas market in the cold and snow, a delicious mulled wine is simply part of it. Before we start, here’s a check of the mulled wine myths that are almost as old as the Christmas story.

Mulled wine – tasty but not without risks

Christmas market in the cold and snow, a delicious mulled wine is simply part of it. Before we start, here’s a check of the mulled wine myths that are almost as old as the Christmas story.

• Very bad news right at the beginning: That mulled wine makes you fat is unfortunately not a myth, but the sad truth. It’s not for nothing that mulled wine tastes so sweet. There’s a lot of sugar in the hot drink. If you don’t want to spoil the fun, it’s best to skip the next two lines. A liter of mulled wine has around 1,000 calories. A mug of mulled wine at the Christmas market usually contains 200 milliliters and therefore has around 200 calories.
• Another myth says that mulled wine doesn’t contain as much alcohol because it’s overcooked. That is partially correct. Mulled wine shouldn’t really boil, but that often happens, resulting in adulterated mulled wine. You can recognize this by the fact that it tastes quite bitter due to the herbs that have also been overcooked. However, according to legal requirements, mulled wine must have an alcohol content of at least 7 percent. The alcohol content is usually between almost 9 and around 14 percent.
• The relatively high sugar content in mulled wine is also responsible for the next myth: mulled wine gives you a headache. This myth is also only partially correct. As a general rule, you can assume that the cheaper the drink, the greater the risk of headaches. The more sugar in the mulled wine, the greater the risk of headache later. The same applies to all other alcoholic beverages.
• The claim that drinking hot mulled wine increases blood alcohol levels is really a myth. The heat improves blood flow to the vessels in the head and we feel the effects of the alcohol more quickly. However, the blood alcohol content in the body increases just as quickly as with a cold alcoholic drink.
• By the way: that mulled wine warms you up on these cold days is a nice myth that you should keep.
• However, that is not entirely correct. The same applies to mulled wine as to all other alcoholic beverages: the alcohol goes into the head and we no longer perceive the cold as much. But when we drink alcohol, important vessels become significantly smaller, and the risk of freezing to death increases when we are outside in the freezing cold.