If you suffer from Asian Glow, or Asian Flush, enjoying a night out with friends can be tough. You have your first drink and suddenly your head starts pounding and your face turns bright red. Your cheeks are hot, and getting hotter as you get embarrassed from people looking at you. So how can you prevent Asian Glow?
While this condition is prevalent in those of East Asian descent, it can still happen to anyone. These suggestions and prevention methods can be used by anyone as well.
Here are the top ways you can prevent Asian Glow today, or at least minimize your symptoms. It’s time you enjoyed your night out with friends.
Stop Drinking Alcohol
Unfortunately, it’s as simple as that. If you want to completely prevent Asian Glow, or Asian Flush, you’ll need to stop drinking alcohol entirely. While this is the only way to fully eliminate symptoms, stop drinking alcohol isn’t always as simple as that. Alcohol can be a large part of society and social environments and can sometimes be hard to avoid.
If you’re not willing to stop your alcohol consumption completely, there are a few other ways you can prevent severe Asian Glow symptoms.
Alcohol Flush Supplements
As more research is conducted into Asian Flush, more products have arrived on the market. While not all Asian Flush supplements are equal, or effective, some can be a great option for reducing symptoms. We recommend Sunset Alcohol Flush Support if you’re looking to use a natural supplement to minimize Asian Glow while also reducing hangover symptoms felt the following day.
Sunset works to support your body break down alcohol quickly and eliminate the toxic chemical that causes these side effects when drinking alcohol. Because Asian Flush is due to an enzyme deficiency in the liver, those with Asian Flush metabolize alcohol ineffectively. Sunset greatly helps with this process and makes drinking alcohol much more comfortable for those with Asian Glow.
Antihistamines - Pepcid AC, Zantac and Zyrtec
While these medications are not created for Asian Flush, many antihistamines like Pepcid AC, Zantac and Zyrtec are used to minimize Asian Flush symptoms. Many who deal with Asian Flush have turned to these histamine blockers for relief since in previous years, there were no alternatives.
While some may see reduced symptoms when using these medications off-label, there are some serious side effects that need to be considered as well.
One study found that blood alcohol levels rise dramatically when using medications like Zantac, or other antacid products that use Ranitidine. So while your face might not be as red as it usually gets when drinking alcohol, you’ll get drunker far quicker than expected.
Using antihistamines for Asian Flush also raises another problem. Reduced Asian Glow symptoms means that the individual can drink more alcohol without feeling the typical negative symptoms that would normally get them to stop. While you might think that this is the purpose, it means that the individual is merely masking Asian Glow, rather than dealing with the serious problem happening internally.
For those with Asian Glow, alcohol is metabolized incorrectly and is broken down into acetaldehyde, which is very harmful to the body. Normally this would be broken down further in a regular body, but not in someone with Asian Glow. This means this toxic chemical accumulates in the system when alcohol is consumed. It’s this chemical, acetaldehyde, that is responsible for many of the negative symptoms felt from Asian Glow and can also cause hangover symptoms.
The more alcohol consumed, the higher levels of acetaldehyde in the body. This means your body is exposed to a carcinogenic chemical for extended periods of time which has been linked to an increased risk of developing esophageal cancer.
This can get a bit confusing, but the basic concept is:
- The individual with Asian Glow takes antihistamines, like Pepcid AC, when drinking alcohol
- Common Asian Glow symptoms are reduced, such turning red and flushed, warm cheeks
- The levels of the toxic chemical acetaldehyde increases in the body as they continue to drink alcoholic beverages
- The individual drinks more than usual because their symptoms are reduced, making the situation more comfortable overall. Extreme cases of this can lead to binge drinking
- The body experiences extended exposure to acetaldehyde (which is linked to DNA damage and higher cancer risks)
- If the individual is using a product with Ranitidine like Zantac, their blood alcohol level will dramatically increase quicker than usual, making them more drunk at a quicker rate while they consume alcohol
Asian Glow moisturiser
Our product Reset is a great option for those who deal with Asian Glow but aren’t comfortable taking capsules or pills for it. Reset is formulated to reduce the heat felt from Asian Glow on your face, plus minimize the redness that comes along with it.
If you know anything about colour correction, you’ll also know that green is the perfect colour to hide red. That’s why Reset moisturiser is tinted green to help hide any redness from Asian Glow. It’s also incredibly hydrating but still soft enough that it can be used every day, for any type of skin.
If you don’t want to use Reset, utilizing green-tinted makeup can also help to a certain extent. You could use either green-tinted primer, foundation or even concealer to help minimize the redness of facial flushing from alcohol consumption. However, basic makeup won’t help reduce the heat felt from facial flushing.
Stay hydrated
Your body flushes because a liver enzyme is ineffective, which only gets worse the more you flood your body with alcohol. Drinking non-alcoholic drinks in between alcohol, you can help minimise the amount of work your body needs to do in order to metabolize the alcohol. Alternating drinks also greatly helps keep your hydrated and reduce hangover symptoms felt the next day.
You can achieve this by a number of ways, depending on what suits you best:
- Drink water or non-alcoholic drinks in between every alcoholic drink
- Order drinks that have low alcohol content, so it reduces the amount of alcohol in your system overall. This could be drinks like shandies which are typically part beer and part lemonade
- Choose drinks that you consume slower than others, such as choosing a cold beer that you’ll drink for awhile versus taking multiple shots quickly
Conclusion
No matter what techniques you use when at the bar with friends, it’s important to drink responsibly, with or without Asian Glow.
Those with Asian Glow will also need to be aware of how much alcohol they are consuming, and how much exposure they have to acetaldehyde over extended periods of time. We know drinking alcohol is fun and a huge part of society, but we also know that acetaldehyde is toxic and can increase cancer risks. It’s important to know all the information before drinking.
