Is it a myth?
For many years now, I've both believed - and experienced? - the phenomenon. As some of you know, I'm mixed race European and Asian. I grew up in the UK, among beer and wine-loving friends. But at the age of about 27 I suddenly started getting bad reactions to drinking alcohol. Nothing life-threatening. Principally a red, itchy rash (hives) with blocked nose and sneezing if I continued to drink. Wine was the worst culprit (red wine also suddenly giving me terrible headaches!) Half a glass could bring on symptoms. Spirits and beer definitely better, but more than 2 bottles of lager will set off the same itchy, sneezy reaction. So I cut back. It's fine. Nobody needs weekly alcohol. And with new guide limits set in parts of Europe (ie we should drink only a fraction of what we thought we should, to stay healthy) it's possibly even fortunate. My whole British family (self included) is very allergy-prone, so I put the reactions down to this. It was only a bit later that I heard that Asians also have reactions to booze. Double-whammy?
On relocating to Asia I discovered that things are a bit more complex. Generally, in SE Asia, people drink a lot less. This is partly because some religions forbid or discourage it. But also the cultures here are not focused on alcohol in the way that Northern Europe is. (It is - the fact that the word 'drinking' in the UK/West means 'alcoholic drinking' possibly says it all!) On a group bar outing in Singapore, you might find that half the people will order alcohol, half won't. There is no stigma attached to either drinking or not drinking. It's just not really a focus. You will very rarely see anybody drunk in Singapore, for example (and if you do, they're probably expats). There doesn't seem to be any kind of obsessive drunkenness bravado among Uni students either (there is in the UK!) Alcohol is taxed highly in Singapore, so I'm guessing cost is a disincentive for many students (?) But in my experience in Europe, cost, legal age, or any other kind of governmental constraint is useless if the college-goers really want something. (Actually there's another blog post lurking here about general rule-breaking - but maybe later!)
So, based on the above, if a genetic disposition is potentially a myth, perhaps an Asian reaction to alcohol is simply a question of lack of or little exposure to it? OK I grew up in England, but was never one of those 'hardened', drunken students, or late-night, gutter-hugging adults.
Move a bit further (and colder) North in Asia, however, and things might be a bit different. Japanese - and apparently also Korean and mainland Chinese - culture has some seriously heavy drinking going on. With lethal local beverages such as China's 50% proof 'bai jiu'* involved. These countries have their own traditional wines and spirits (sake, umeshu, shochu, soju, makgeolli and many more) and drinking is part of corporate culture. Nights out heavy-drinking might be expected (even for women today) as part of your office obligations, it seems. It is also - as it is in the West - a way to de-stress. In pristine Tokyo, I was surprised to notice stumbling, vomiting men in suits rambling the pavements and subways at night - just like they do in London's financial district.
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| Makgeolli |
Some explanations
In fact, there IS a genetic disposition. (Shame on you, BBC!) But there are also other reactions which are not Asian-specific. The Asian reaction, often known as alcohol flush reaction or Asian flush syndrome affects around a third of East/SE Asians. Often people with some Chinese, Japanese, or Korean heritage. It's the result of the body producing less or none of an enzyme which helps process alcohol. And it can mean a sudden red face which looks 'sunburnt', dizziness, headache, racing-heart - but also sometimes (especially if you're already an allergic type of person) itchy hives, blocked nose etc. And as one website stated "Prevention would include not drinking alcohol".
But the ethanol (ie alcohol) in drinks can also trigger itchy, red, sneezy or wheezy reactions, or even stomach cramping and anaphylaxis in especially allergy-prone people of any race. Then there are allergic reactions to all sorts of other ingredients for individuals who respond to them - which might also be connected to the same processing enzymes, even if you're not Asian. [Hops, wheat, grapes, yeast, sulfites, histamines... this allergy list seems to pretty much cover the entire spectrum of brewing and distilling constituents worldwide!]
My condition? It does seem like a possible 'double whammy'! Many aspects, such as the fact it only started a decade into my drinking life, that wine is worse than other drinks, and that antihistamines help considerably, have fit fairly well with other allergic patterns. But I'm the only one of my hayfeverish, rashy, asthmatic British family to have alcohol as a trigger. The Asian bit? Either way - and though I do love an occasional cold beer, a beach-side margarita, or trying local brews - being in SE Asia pretty much suits my modest drinking habits. Besides, it's actually quite nice to be female and order fruit juice in a bar, without someone concluding that you must be pregnant.
* 白酒; báijiǔ means literally 'white spirit'. Which, ironically, is the UK name for paint-thinner. Coincidence? ^^
Top image: The main character (played by Takeshi Kitano) having some sake in the movie Zatoichi.
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