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I'm sure a lot of TL followers are asian,
so I'm surprised this topic hasn't been discussed.
Asian Flush.
When I had my first taste of alcohol back in highschool, it
was some beer, nothing too fancy. It was a Christmas party, everyone was downing the drinks. I had my go at it.
I finished maybe half a bottle before my heart started racing, I was sweating, my body was giving off a lot of heat, I was turning red. It was pretty bad.
At first I thought I was allergic to alcohol. My friends thought I was completely wasted, but really I was just getting drowsy. I was labeled the 'light weight'.
I did some research and found out you can't really be allergic to alcohol, but it turns out half of Asians can't handle their their drinks like other races can. Supposedly, some of us are deficient of an enzyme that is necessary to breakdown alcohol when it's consumed. So since we can't metabolize the alcohol, it remains in the bloodstream and acts as a 'poison', which leads to the various symptoms I listed above.
Now, I've come to accept this genetic mutation of mine, but it's so annoying to go to parties or go out and not really enjoy drinking. Friends tell me that it's cool that I turn red and that I shouldn't mind it. But it's just really really frustrating. People think I'm wasted when I'm perfectly sober. It's come to the point where I don't drink that often and its put a minor dent in my social life.
I've heard of various methods we can do to mitigate the redness. Taking some PepcidAC tablets a couple hours before drinking is supposed to help with the asian flush. I might try that out.
So I'm wondering. Is asian flush a problem for any of you guys? What do you think of it and how do you respond to it? Is it something that you just push aside and say "fuck it, I'm going to drink anyways" or have you stayed away from alcohol completely because of it?
Hopefully this leads to some discussion. TY
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I had never heard of this "Asian Flush". The way you presented this it sounds as if all Asians can not drink alcohol without this happening. I find that hard to believe... Don't know though, sucks. Hope you find something that helps the flush. Interested to read some replies about this.
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im not asian but i dont see why its a problem? your social life is dented because you dont drink?
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i turn red when i drink
Its mad annoying but cant do anything about it.
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Hong Kong20321 Posts
im asian and i DRI:NK LIKE A MONSTERRRRRRRrr
and i dont turn red when i drink
the only time i turn red when i drink is (for some strange reason) when i drink a lot while having spicy hot pot. weird right
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I'm asian and I dont think i get this "asian flush", maybe cuz I get too drunk to notice. However, I only drink clear liquor, at least most of the time. Anyways even if I have asian flush, I'd just still drink lol.
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On November 07 2009 16:42 alffla wrote:
im asian and i DRI:NK LIKE A MONSTERRRRRRRrr
and i dont turn red when i drink
the only time i turn red when i drink is (for some strange reason) when i drink a lot while having spicy hot pot. weird right
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Hong Kong20321 Posts
well i mean if those symptoms arent' really affecting you and getting you really wasted or whatever then why not just ignore the comments and drink lol
u can laugh at all the white ppl when they go suntan and turn red as hell rofl
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Im underage(18), but half a can of regular Asahi Super Dry and my face is already red. I drank some during the many BBQs in the summer, goes well with meat. 
edit: I never even heard of this term "Asian Flush".
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Katowice25012 Posts
A friend of mine from high school did this, its hilarious to see her drink because she turns bright red super fast
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Asians lack ranitidine, therefore we are unable to break down alcohol without blushing. Take Zantac 75, there is 75mg of the active ranitidine ingredient. PepsidAC has the same active ingredient but in lower quantity irc. Take the pill 10-30mins before drinking and you can pound them all night without blushing anymore than a white person. Good luck!
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On November 07 2009 16:40 JohnColtrane wrote:
im not asian but i dont see why its a problem? your social life is dented because you dont drink?
...If you're under the impression not drinking doesn't dent your social life you're deluded. Generally you must put up a facade and "baby sit" a beer. That's just the way it is.
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personally i think about 1/3 to 1/5 of the asians i know have this happen to them
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all the koreans and chinese I met drank like twice as much as I did even if they were smaller and lighter (I'm 6'1" 240 lbs) back when I drank like everyday
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Hong Kong20321 Posts
On November 07 2009 16:52 itzme_petey wrote:
Asians lack ranitidine, therefore we are unable to break down alcohol without blushing. Take Zantac 75, there is 75mg of the active ranitidine ingredient. PepsidAC has the same active ingredient but in lower quantity irc. Take the pill 10-30mins before drinking and you can pound them all night without blushing anymore than a white person. Good luck!
woah tahts cool never knew that o_o
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I'm half korean/white, and i get the asian flush. My face and and upper body turn bright red and i get unbearably hot. Sometimes I get sick from the heat, so i don't drink very often. Next time i drink, i'll try to take some Zantac 75 to see if that helps. Thanks for the tip.
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I noticed that when I drink(of course, not that much. Half-a bottle would be enough), I'm feeling confident than ever
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i basically look like a native american =[
Im really light weight for some reason and cant handle shit
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On November 07 2009 16:52 selboN wrote:Show nested quote +On November 07 2009 16:40 JohnColtrane wrote:
im not asian but i dont see why its a problem? your social life is dented because you dont drink? ...If you're under the impression not drinking doesn't dent your social life you're deluded. Generally you must put up a facade and "baby sit" a beer. That's just the way it is.
maybe you're just hanging out with the wrong crowd
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On November 07 2009 16:57 alffla wrote:Show nested quote +On November 07 2009 16:52 itzme_petey wrote:
Asians lack ranitidine, therefore we are unable to break down alcohol without blushing. Take Zantac 75, there is 75mg of the active ranitidine ingredient. PepsidAC has the same active ingredient but in lower quantity irc. Take the pill 10-30mins before drinking and you can pound them all night without blushing anymore than a white person. Good luck! woah tahts cool never knew that o_o
me too need to try that
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51449 Posts
i don't get it, neither does my dad nor my brother.
weird eh
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On November 07 2009 16:39 selboN wrote:
I had never heard of this "Asian Flush". The way you presented this it sounds as if all Asians can not drink alcohol without this happening. I find that hard to believe... Don't know though, sucks. Hope you find something that helps the flush. Interested to read some replies about this.
Like 1/3 of asians have it. Something about us not having some enzyme which processes the alcohol so our blood vessels dilate and we get a flush.
It's annoying but there's I've come to accept it I guess. Actually no I haven't. It's embarrassing when I like sip a margharita and turn beet red. I hate the asian flush.
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this doesnt happen to me but it does happen to my dad, and we're both 100% serbian, so i guess its not just asians
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its fairly common in asians, if youre drinking in asian company, chances are people are aware of it =p they know you turn red just b/c of some genetic thing it's not like they think you're smashed from one sip or from half a beer
i don't really see the issue here
edit: actually i'm not sure about some of the effects described in this thread.. the way my friend told me, they just turn red, but don't actually feel anything (like heat exhaustion or pulse racing or whatever). If there's actually some physical effects like those then i can see the issue, in which case you just kind of have to suck it up i guess and nurse a beer for a night.. i was under the impression that it just made you red without any other effects 
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So it's not true that asians generally handle alcohol worse than the overall population?
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On November 07 2009 18:30 Shauni wrote:
So it's not true that asians generally handle alcohol worse than the overall population?
Asians who don't have the acetaldehyde dehydrogenase mutation handle alcohol normally, but the mutation seems to be more common in east asians than other ethnicities.
On November 07 2009 16:52 itzme_petey wrote:
Asians lack ranitidine, therefore we are unable to break down alcohol without blushing. Take Zantac 75, there is 75mg of the active ranitidine ingredient. PepsidAC has the same active ingredient but in lower quantity irc. Take the pill 10-30mins before drinking and you can pound them all night without blushing anymore than a white person. Good luck!
Wait, really? How does ranitidine affect the breakdown of acetaldehyde --> acetic acid? No disrespect, I'm legitimately curious; doesn't ranitidine antagonize histamine?
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On November 07 2009 19:02 Equaoh wrote:Show nested quote +On November 07 2009 18:30 Shauni wrote:
So it's not true that asians generally handle alcohol worse than the overall population? Asians who don't have the acetaldehyde dehydrogenase mutation handle alcohol normally, but the mutation seems to be more common in east asians than other ethnicities. Show nested quote +On November 07 2009 16:52 itzme_petey wrote:
Asians lack ranitidine, therefore we are unable to break down alcohol without blushing. Take Zantac 75, there is 75mg of the active ranitidine ingredient. PepsidAC has the same active ingredient but in lower quantity irc. Take the pill 10-30mins before drinking and you can pound them all night without blushing anymore than a white person. Good luck! Wait, really? How does ranitidine affect the breakdown of acetaldehyde --> acetic acid? No disrespect, I'm legitimately curious; doesn't ranitidine antagonize histamine?
Im no chemist.. but a few sites have cited the effects of zantac and how it helps with the flush.
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Alcohol_flush_reaction (sorry I couldnt find a more legitimate site)
However, there are consequences.
Sites have stated that using Zantac 75 while drinking is dangerous. It makes the consumer more intoxicated by raising the blood alcohol content by 38%.
http://www.webmd.com/news/20000215/zantac-alcohol-dont-mix
I do not drink much, nor do I plan to ever drive even after 1 drink. So it does not really affect me. But be warned..
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Half the asians really turn red and get a racing heart from booze?
I only turn red in the face and my heart starts pumping when I drink red wine. Other than that, I'm a genetic monster of swedish and finnish ancestry and alcohol flows through my veins.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_wine_headache
Also there's a link to Asian flush on that page.
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this is a genetic thing.
the majority of asian people are allergic to alcohol in such a way that small amounts cause their face to become "flushed" or rosy. im sure there is a wiki entry for this somewhere with the exact explanation.
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Hahah my dad becomes red after 1 drop, but I'm not hugely better either :D
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Wow this makes perfectly sense to me now.. Well maybe not but at least now I know why and how..
I have this friend who's asian, and whenever he drinks alcohol he gets all red in the face and his nose change color to blue/green-ish (yeah i'm serious)..
And he says he's not feeling to well, doh, and I thought he was allergic to alcohol.
Poor kid I thought to myself, 'cause in my country that's how we socialize (I know it's sad but it's just like that, putting your problems aside for THE NIGHT and have a fun time doesn't sound too bad tho).
This applies especially if you're young and want to have a good time, yeah sure you don't need to drink to go out and have fun but my friend seems to think otherwise. Because after that 'incident' he hasn't showed at any parties we throw or anything, and I don't blame him.. That gotta suck..
It's cool now that I can understand him some more, thanks TL..
Btw, I've got a pretty decent amount of asian friends.. And on any given holiday they're home playing WoW/DotA etc, so is it safe to assume some of them have the Asian Flush as well?
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We call it "Asian Glow" here in the states...or at least in SoCal.
I'm also generally lightweight drinker and get the glow easily, but it really depends on the night and to an extent on the day preceding it...and how many nights in a row I've been drinking for.
I've gotten sick and passed out off of two shots and a gin and tonic before. Other nights I've had more than a dozen drinks.
For me, just making sure you've had plenty of water and haven't starved yourself works wonders. I also find if I'm better rested I hold up better. These are sort of generic suggestions to boost your tolerance for a night, though...lol.
I find it funny, though, that you said Asians have a 50% higher tendency to have such issues with alcohol, considering how strong (and awesome) the drinking culture is in Korea, lawl.
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trust me... a lot of the businessmen over here
they can drink...
a lot of them can't though
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iNcontroL
USA29055 Posts
One of my friends in college drank with us in our dorm (he was asian). At the end of the night he stumbled out and was gonna go to his room but a RA saw him and was like "SUP ED!" He replied "YO" but when she saw his red face she insta-investigated and wrote us up.
That is my story about the asian flush.
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Asian people had to be nerfed...
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I first saw this when an uncle turned red after half a glass of wine at a birthday dinner. Most of my family don't drink often, the ones that do don't flush. I think none of my dad's side have it whilst most of my mum's side does. Lucky for me (and my uni life) I don't have this annoying genetic trait.
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If it prevents you from drinking it's a blessing.
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On November 07 2009 23:00 iG.ClouD wrote:
If it prevents you from drinking it's a blessing.
![[image loading]](http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/3817/kruemelmonsteryn0.gif) r u mad ?
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My dad actually claims that he has an alcohol allergy. Maybe it is a simplified explanation. His reactions to any alcoholic drink is a running nose and other symptoms that look like a common cold. Treats it with a certain nose spray. What research says to you that there is no such thing as an alcohol allergy?
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On November 07 2009 23:00 iG.ClouD wrote:
If it prevents you from drinking it's a blessing.
Curse in my book.
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I get the same thing. I turn red really quickly and my face warms up, even if I'm not in the least bit drunk. After like, half a beer, my face turns red
I've only had one person mention it to me. Everyone else either doesn't care or just expects me to turn red so it's no surprise when I do
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On November 07 2009 17:29 GTR wrote:
i don't get it, neither does my dad nor my brother.
weird eh
you're evolutionary superior.
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On November 07 2009 16:52 selboN wrote:Show nested quote +On November 07 2009 16:40 JohnColtrane wrote:
im not asian but i dont see why its a problem? your social life is dented because you dont drink? ...If you're under the impression not drinking doesn't dent your social life you're deluded. Generally you must put up a facade and "baby sit" a beer. That's just the way it is.
Different ppl have differen friends. Not everyone has friends who go to bars regularly or even drink regularly. It doesn't affect someones' social life if their friends don't drink ... you make it seems like you have to drink to have a social life.
As to the actual topic ... who cares if you get red bc you drink. No one does except for douches.
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United States4796 Posts
Well written. I turn red really, really fast when I drink...
But I can still keep drinking and hold my liquor.
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Friends tell me that it's cool that I turn red and that I shouldn't mind it. But it's just really really frustrating.
What are you complaining about?
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...im asian and...
nothings wrong when i drink O___O
maybe you took a perk before you drank?
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Physician
United States4146 Posts
On November 07 2009 20:19 omninmo wrote:
this is a genetic thing.
the majority of asian people are allergic to alcohol in such a way that small amounts cause their face to become "flushed" or rosy. im sure there is a wiki entry for this somewhere with the exact explanation.
it is not an "allergy"
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Physician
United States4146 Posts
On November 07 2009 16:52 itzme_petey wrote:
Asians lack ranitidine, therefore we are unable to break down alcohol without blushing. Take Zantac 75, there is 75mg of the active ranitidine ingredient. PepsidAC has the same active ingredient but in lower quantity irc. Take the pill 10-30mins before drinking and you can pound them all night without blushing anymore than a white person. Good luck!
man, please..
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i've heard of it called the "asian glow"
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Why not just tell your friends you're not into drinking and you will go to their parties but have fun without needing to throw your brain out the window?
I've gone to parties with strippers and bartenders (when they're off work) and said flat out "Sorry, I don't drink," when they offer me one. Nobody gets offended or minds or thinks less of me. Then again, most of them look at me with a weird kind of respect coz a lot of them have really f-ed up habits they can't kick. But it definitely doesn't keep me from having fun and they're probably the most hardcore messed up substance abusing crowd possible.
Then again, it's an older crowd. At some high school kiddy party, the children may very well try to ostracize you and say dumb stuff about the "manliness" of drinking or how "uncool" you are.
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I get this but it only happens some nights. I've tried the pepcidAC thing too and I think it only works sometimes. Well, i'm not really sure if it works at all. I can go nights w/ or w/o taking pepcid and not turn red at all, but other nights with taking pepcid I still have turned red. haha!
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I suppose this explains the makeup of Jackie Chan's sensei in Drunken Master?
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Seriously why would you want to drink as much as to take pills. This summer I've had a period in which I would get drunk 2-3 times at week and it made me understand pretty well how retard a person can be without the bounds of self inibition. I don't think I will ever drink again anything more alcoholic than a beer. So OP yes, I think you are a lucky guy. Take this chance to not drink alcohol and be proud of it.
edit: and btw if the only side effect is that your face turns red, why would you care in the first place?
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On November 07 2009 19:53 itzme_petey wrote:Show nested quote +On November 07 2009 19:02 Equaoh wrote:On November 07 2009 18:30 Shauni wrote:
So it's not true that asians generally handle alcohol worse than the overall population? Asians who don't have the acetaldehyde dehydrogenase mutation handle alcohol normally, but the mutation seems to be more common in east asians than other ethnicities. On November 07 2009 16:52 itzme_petey wrote:
Asians lack ranitidine, therefore we are unable to break down alcohol without blushing. Take Zantac 75, there is 75mg of the active ranitidine ingredient. PepsidAC has the same active ingredient but in lower quantity irc. Take the pill 10-30mins before drinking and you can pound them all night without blushing anymore than a white person. Good luck! Wait, really? How does ranitidine affect the breakdown of acetaldehyde --> acetic acid? No disrespect, I'm legitimately curious; doesn't ranitidine antagonize histamine? Im no chemist.. but a few sites have cited the effects of zantac and how it helps with the flush. http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Alcohol_flush_reaction (sorry I couldnt find a more legitimate site) However, there are consequences. Sites have stated that using Zantac 75 while drinking is dangerous. It makes the consumer more intoxicated by raising the blood alcohol content by 38%. http://www.webmd.com/news/20000215/zantac-alcohol-dont-mix I do not drink much, nor do I plan to ever drive even after 1 drink. So it does not really affect me. But be warned..
*wakes up*
Aw, after looking into it a bit deeper, no one is sure. Ranitidine might just mitigate the symptoms (the actual FLUSHING) by decreasing vessel dilation, or actually inhibit secretion of the enzyme which creates the acetaldehyde in the first place.
I guess it's important that either way it increases the liver toxicity and cardiovascular damage because you're trapping shit as either ethanol or acetaldehyde.
Use responsibly!
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I'm Chinese-- my dad glows, my mom glows (I think), and my sister glows, but I don't change color at all.
I do have a friend who glows in odd places (ears, spots on his cheek), and I'm pretty sure he doesn't drink often because of that. A whole bunch of us can be drinking, and he'll take a beer but not finish it. I think it kind of affects him as well. On the same side though, he may just not enjoy the effects.
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At least it's good to know that I'm not the only one xD
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On November 07 2009 16:52 blue_arrow wrote:
personally i think about 1/3 to 1/2 of the asians i know have this happen to them
fixed and agreed
also, my dad gets it and he's white.
(scottish,irish,german decent)
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On November 08 2009 02:01 Physician wrote:Show nested quote +On November 07 2009 16:52 itzme_petey wrote:
Asians lack ranitidine, therefore we are unable to break down alcohol without blushing. Take Zantac 75, there is 75mg of the active ranitidine ingredient. PepsidAC has the same active ingredient but in lower quantity irc. Take the pill 10-30mins before drinking and you can pound them all night without blushing anymore than a white person. Good luck! man, please..
The doctor's right, disregard my bullshit please. The articles do not mention any definite reason why Zantac works. All they say is to take the pill.
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I thought this was due to being +/- for functional aldehyde dehyrdogenase or something like that. If you're -/- you get really fucked up by alcohol, but if you're heterozygote flushing is probably the strongest symptom.
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im asian and ive never turned red from alcohol in my life, sucks for you guys
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I always heard of it as "The Asian Glow." I am half Asian, half white (Ancestors were Russian, but they moved to US, don't know if that still counts). As for when I drink alcohol at home during certain events or so, I never really had the problem. I'm guessing it's just because I'm only half Asian.
Anyways, my sister has had many of her friends turn really bright red after ingesting really minimal amounts of alcohol.
EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_flush_reaction
Alcohol flush reaction (colloquially referred to as Asian Flush, Asian Glow, Oriental Flush, Russian Glow) is a condition in which the face and/or body experiences flushes or blotches, due to a missense polymorphism that encodes the enzyme, acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) [1], normally responsible for breaking down acetaldehyde, a product of the metabolism of alcohol.[2]
EDIT2: Beaten.
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3861 Posts
Only my cheeks and sometimes my forehead gets red. My brother's entire body turns red with one beer. Meh. We deal.
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I'm half asian and half russian so it kinda balances out. No turning red for me!
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On November 08 2009 20:08 TheAntZ wrote:
I'm half asian and half russian so it kinda balances out. No turning red for me!
Actually it's called the Russian Glow as well. Read that Wiki article someone posted above. You just lucked out and don't have it.
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lol
just drink 20 more shots to prove you can hold your liquor
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Maybe it's just where you live?
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16986 Posts
On November 08 2009 10:07 zulu_nation8 wrote:
im asian and ive never turned red from alcohol in my life, sucks for you guys
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On November 07 2009 16:37 ProbeSaturation wrote:
I'm sure a lot of TL followers are asian,
so I'm surprised this topic hasn't been discussed.
Asian Flush.
When I had my first taste of alcohol back in highschool, it
was some beer, nothing too fancy. It was a Christmas party, everyone was downing the drinks. I had my go at it.
I finished maybe half a bottle before my heart started racing, I was sweating, my body was giving off a lot of heat, I was turning red. It was pretty bad.
At first I thought I was allergic to alcohol. My friends thought I was completely wasted, but really I was just getting drowsy. I was labeled the 'light weight'.
I did some research and found out you can't really be allergic to alcohol, but it turns out half of Asians can't handle their their drinks like other races can. Supposedly, some of us are deficient of an enzyme that is necessary to breakdown alcohol when it's consumed. So since we can't metabolize the alcohol, it remains in the bloodstream and acts as a 'poison', which leads to the various symptoms I listed above.
Now, I've come to accept this genetic mutation of mine, but it's so annoying to go to parties or go out and not really enjoy drinking. Friends tell me that it's cool that I turn red and that I shouldn't mind it. But it's just really really frustrating. People think I'm wasted when I'm perfectly sober. It's come to the point where I don't drink that often and its put a minor dent in my social life.
I've heard of various methods we can do to mitigate the redness. Taking some PepcidAC tablets a couple hours before drinking is supposed to help with the asian flush. I might try that out.
So I'm wondering. Is asian flush a problem for any of you guys? What do you think of it and how do you respond to it? Is it something that you just push aside and say "fuck it, I'm going to drink anyways" or have you stayed away from alcohol completely because of it?
Hopefully this leads to some discussion. TY
This is cool to know, I was wondering why one of my friends was bright red a few years ago when he was plastered. I guess that's why I can barely ever get him to drink.
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when i started drinking i use to get red after half a drink or so. but after awhile of drinking a lot, the redness didn't appear as much. but when i stopped drinking for a few years, i became red whenever i had a drink. Also, i found it was worse with bottom shelf/cheap liquor. Now i find myself being prejudice against cheap stuff lol.
op: try drinking more and more for awhile, it might go away lol
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Really?
4 pages and nobody is gonna flat out say not all asians have it? lol..
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On November 10 2009 10:54 Ack1027 wrote:
Really?
4 pages and nobody is gonna flat out say not all asians have it? lol..
did you even read the OP?
On November 07 2009 16:37 ProbeSaturation wrote:
but it turns out half of Asians can't handle their their drinks like other races can. Supposedly, some of us are deficient of an enzyme that is necessary to breakdown alcohol when it's consumed.
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This is actually the first time I've ever heard of this. I guess the Koreans I hang out with are extremely tolerant, haha! Or...maybe I didn't notice, because I thought everything in the world was funny...and sexy. Honestly, I myself am pretty sure I don't have the "Asian Flush". I think I've smiled at myself in the mirror too many times to know what I look like, stupid but still the same color.
As for you Mr. topic starter, why is it that I get this: beer = only way to socialize? You DON'T have to down a drink to hang out. Go play some lan parties, or go to a party and don't drink! Being the only non-drinker does dull your experience, but honestly, I usually have a fun time laughing at all the stupid stuff my friends do...and remembering it  Oh, and try to be the designated driver for a change. It lets women know you care about your friends more than your own self-enjoyment, and what women doesn't like a unselfish man?
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no red face formula, changing your genetic makeup and/or shooting you up with ADH, all yours for $37! That's pretty amazing.
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rofl, ban this guy already xD stupid ad bot ^^
i still have two days until i get my "report" button i think.. *grml*
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United States42674 Posts
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EPT![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Edjman.jpg/180px-Edjman.jpg)
