Expert: Ed Westemeier - 10/2/2008

Question
Iget migrains from beer & wine, I mean they are so bad that I can't even finish the neck out of a botle and they start in... so I have stopped all together. I believe it is from the yeast (Fresh home made bread does it too)... I have heard there is now a pill that will kill the yeast in your stomach before it hits your blood stream, which may allow me to enjoy a beer again. Can you give some insight?

Answer
I think you might want to get a medical opinion, instead of asking some random nut like me.

However ...

If you're drinking the typical American mass market lager beer, I can guarantee there is no live yeast in the beer after it leaves the brewery. So if there is such a pill, it would be useless.

If you're drinking some locally produced craft beer from a brewpub or the like, there could be some live yeast in the bottle, so just avoid them.

There is certainly no live yeast in bread (the heat of the oven kills it just as surely as the pasteurization process at the brewery).

So, bottom line, I doubt if your problem is related to yeast.

Ask a doctor, and good luck to you.

Ed