I have exactly this problem but only with wheat beer, not other wheat products. It makes me feel awful, kind of lightheaded and I crash 30 minutes later and feel exhausted.

I don't have a problem with wheat or gluten though. My partner runs a bakery and if I had a problem with gluten I'm pretty sure I'd know about it. I have also tried elimination diets in the past to deal with migraines and wheat/gluten never showed up as an issue.

I also don't get this effect from non-wheat beer. So my guess is that some other chemical is created from wheat during the brewing process and I'm sensitive to that.

I believe there's some evidence that pesticides commonly used with wheat can actually be the source of the issue for some people. I recall having a colleague who said they'd import European wheat because they didn't have bad reactions to it. I believe the reasoning was Europe didn't allow a certain type of pesticide.

I'd also add that NA beer also tricks my brain into not feeling awkward when I'm at a bar with friends who're all drinking.

Have also noticed that some NA beers make me feel elements of what I previously attributed to being hungover.

My brother and I once accidentally gave our dad NA beer. He didn't know. We soon realized it yet kept giving it to him all night. Bizarre, he actually got "drunk". Slower talking, ever more exaggerated stories, etc.

It's not just a personal anecdote, this has been replicated with two student groups in a bar, one served alcohol, the others not. Both groups got "drunk".

Likewise, you can give people a blue-colored and red-colored water and they will consistently report that the blue one is cool and refreshing whilst the red one is sweet. Neither has any actual taste.

Most people have experienced this glitch in our brains without realizing it. You have a glass of water and you take a sip. You violently spit it out. It's sprite, not water. It tastes like poison, even if you love sprite.

Being aware that you're drinking NA is technically not a placebo, but strong associations can still play a role in it act liking one regardless.

Also interesting in that regard: https://steadydrinker.com/articles/foods-drinks-alcohol/

It might be histamine intolerance.

Part of what makes you 'feel hungover' is the fact that parts of the beverage has been converted to histamines/contained histamines already. It's the part that makes headaches. It's particularly bad because of the de-hydration part of drinking and histamine problems are a concentration thing, as in being low on water or having enough water in your system w/ the same histamine amount can be the difference between headache or no headache. Histamines are both present in alcoholic beverages in the first place and alcohol inhibits the DAO enzyme from breaking down histamines. Now the problem with NA beers for example is that even though there's no (or way less) alcohol to inhibit DAO, if you're low on DAO for example, this can still be enough to make you feel hungover as histamines are still present/going to be created from the beverage, even though it's no longer a 'double whammy'. Certain foods will be able to do the same if this is what was causing it for you.

An example of what might happen if that's what you have:

Non-alcoholic beer -> headache One piece of lasagna a day, no problem One piece of lasagna for lunch and another one for dinner from the left overs -> headache Drink one tiny bottle of Actimel -> headache

The exact amounts may vary for different people, some foods are worse than others etc. E.g. it might not happen with tomatoes for you but may happen w/ certain cheeses (e.g. blue cheese might be an issue, so don't eat that whole 200g package of Roquefort all at once even though it's tempting).

Basically anything that contains histamines (or biogenic amines in general) or gets converted into histamines (such as histidine - also added to some vitamin/mineral pills for example) can now give you a "hangover headache".

Not to mention what lots of yeast can do to your digestive tract if you happen to drink all the yeast that had gathered at the bottom of that bottle of Hefeweizen.

Another good brewery: https://rationalebrewing.com/

Guiness even offers a non alcoholic now that isn't bad.

I think Athletic is way overrated compared to the above though and wouldn't start there.

There's an alcohol free wine called Fre. It tastes mostly like a dry grape juice, but it's fairly sippable.

In last couple years NA beers really got way better than they used to be.

Guinness NA is great. Heineken 0 is great. Clausthaler Grapefruit is great.

I mostly enjoy IPA non-alcoholics, or a Weizen. But for regular NA pilsener I would recommend Grolsch, it's a bit more hoppy then Heineken.

I've had the same issue with cigarette smoke since I quit ~20 years ago. The smell is awful and I seem to be hyper-sensitive to it if someone is smoking even remotely nearby.

I'm often driving when I'm out with friends, so I've sampled a lot of alcohol-free beers over the years.