So you’re at your grandfather’s 80th birthday party. It’s a loud Chinese gathering, and your uncles are going around offering liquor. You notice that as they go around, their faces are as red as tomatoes. You then look over to your cousins, who are turning red as well after taking a few chugs. You then take a glass, and as you drink you start feeling your face heating up. Startled, you rush to the restroom and look into the mirror and discover that your face has turned all red. You start to wonder, why does drinking alcohol turn people red?
This phenomenon is called Asian flush, which is when a person’s face flushes scarlet upon the consumption of alcohol. Alcohol is made of many components, but the thing vital to all liquors is a peculiar substance called ethanol. Ethanol, or C2H6O, is a colorless compound most commonly found in different types of liquor or alcohol. Ingestion of such a compound is harmful to our body, so we have two types of enzymes to break it down into harmless compounds. The first enzyme is called alcohol dehydrogenase, or ADH. This enzyme breaks down ethanol into acetaldehyde, another toxic substance. Acetaldehyde is also carcinogenic, which means it increases the rate of cancer developing in the body. Following this logic, increased alcohol consumption would also increase the rate of cancer in your body. This is where the second enzyme comes in, acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, or ALDH2. This enzyme breaks down acetaldehyde into a harmless compound that is more easily metabolized by the body, acetic acid. This enzyme is responsible for making sure that the ethanol consumed is easily regulated by the body.
Now the problem here is that most people of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean descent have a faulty second enzyme. About 70% of East Asians have a genetic defect that makes alcohol dehydrogenase very strong yet have a very weak acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. This makes an unhealthy buildup of acetaldehyde that the body cannot metabolize fast enough.
This imbalance is the reason most East Asians don’t frequently feel the effects of alcohol or alcohol “buzz” as much as others, due to the fast metabolism of ethanol. The downside is the rapid buildup of acetaldehyde. To combat this, the body releases histamine into the bloodstream to help break down the abnormal levels of acetaldehyde. This dilates the blood vessels, turning the face reddish, and causing blushing.
It is not uncommon to have someone wrongly assume you to be an alcoholic when they see the red face. Since most East Asians become embarrassed by the possibility of this happening, they refrain from ingesting liquor as much as possible.
So the next time you’re at a party, stay away from the liquor-bearing uncles if you don’t want to end up looking like a tomato.
Note: Lifenews does not condone underage drinking and strongly stands by the legal drinking age set by the Philippine government.