Cure Asian Blush

The first time I heard the term "Asian blush", I immediately thought it was some sort of racial slur. I didn't really understand what it was, but Americans tend to be more sensitive to racial stereotyping. After I realized that it was referring to how many Asians turn red after drinking, I don't know if I though Asian blush was more or less of a racial slur than before! Regardless, I slowly began to learn more about the condition, where it comes from, and how to cure it.

After my recent trips to China I noticed that it's not just some rumour or tall-tale that Asians get red in the face after drinking alcohol. Many of the Chinese people I met just flat out didn't drink because of this "Asian blush". They called it an allergic reaction, but I soon learned that an alcohol allergy and Asian blush are two very different things. Allergic reactions to alcohol are very rare, and actual allergic reactions to alcohol are usually caused by things contained in the alcohol like sulphites, grapes, wheat, various types of proteins which are common in seafood, and the list goes on. The condition known as Asian blush (officially called the alcohol flush reaction or alcohol intolerance) is caused by a lack of an enzyme which is partially responsible for the breakdown of alcohol.

One theory is that Asian blush started thousands of years ago with cultivation of rice. As farmers began brewing alcohol from a combination of fruit and rice, natural selection worked its magic and those that had an adverse reaction to alcohol had a greater survival rate than those that didn't.

Sorry farmer-dude, you drank yourself to death. Game over.

After browsing many of these Asian blush solution forums I discovered that antihistamines are a common solution. The young Asian crowd, looking for ways to get rid of this rather embarrassing condition discovered that a side effect of antihistamines, especially antacids had the side effect of getting rid of their Asian blush. Where there's a will, there's a way. There's also something called the No Red Face Formula which quite a few people have mentioned. It's an e-book which guarantees that it can "teach" you to cure Asian blush without pills or shots. There is very little specific information available about the book, so if anyone has tried it, I'd be interested to hear your opinion about whether it really works to cure Asian blush.