it can make them feel more confident and comfortable

But for me, drinking makes me feel less confident and uncomfortable

That's because thanks to my DNA...

alcohol makes my skin turn red

It's called the Asian Flush

And it affects about 36% of North East Asians with higher rates among Asian Americans.

I guess we should probably show you what it looks like

"For Science!"

"If I know that I'm gonna need to take pictures that I'll drink less until these pictures are over

and then I'll go back to normal pace"

People tend to assume that a red face means that we're drunk

but that's a myth

These are completely separate processes

Facial flushing whether from embarrassment, or exercise, or alcohol...

It happens when the blood vessels under the surface of the skin dilate.

And in the case of Asian flush, this is part of an immune response

The body is detecting a threat

The threat isn't the alcohol itself

but a substance that our livers produce while breaking down alcohol

"For me at least, the warmth starts in my chest and then it moves its way up."

"My cheeks are warm, my ears are warm..."

"It's weird. It's like my eyes are almost puffy"

"Ahh I do feel like they got puffy..."

When people drink ethanol, that's the chemical name for booze.

The liver gets rid of it using two main enzymes.

The first reacts with the ethanol molecule to produce a substance called acetaldehyde.

And the second quickly turns acetaldehyde into acetate, which is similar to vinegar and easy for the body to eliminate.

It's that second enzyme that really screws things up for people with Asian flush.

If you look inside our DNA

you'll find that the gene providing the instructions for that enzyme

was tweaked at some point in our history

And that gene mutation produces an inactive enzyme

So when we drink our bodies accumulate acetaldehyde

at a level about 6 times higher than normal people

If acetaldehyde sounds familiar that maybe because it's similar to formaldehyde

It's toxic

That's why it triggers the immune responds

And the red face is really the least of it

After having that one beer

I didn't feel tipsy at all, but my heart rate doubled

My eyes were bloodshot, and within half hour I had a headache

Even worse, acetaldehyde can cause cancer

It's a problem because people can actually develop a tolerance to Asian flush

and that allows them to drink pretty heavily

Studies have shown that heavy drinking raises the risk of esophageal cancer for everyone

but especially for people with Asian flush

So it's potentially problematic that alcohol consumption in Asia has been increasing

especially in China

So if you have an Asian flush, be careful

Your body is freaking out for a reason

And if you don't flush...just don't expect us to keep up with you

And also...

"You don't have to bring it up every time...like, yes I know that you're red..."

"I know this, thanks, awesome..."