Table of contents:
- Causes of flushing after drinking alcohol
- Effects of drinking alcohol in addition to red and hot faces
- How can you keep your face red and hot after drinking alcohol?
Do you like to drink beer or liquor until your face turns red? Be careful, reddened skin after drinking alcohol, especially on the face, cannot be taken lightly. This could be a sign that your body isn't able to properly digest alcohol. A study in South Korea found that the effects of drinking alcohol can be very serious, especially in people whose skin turns red after consuming it.
Causes of flushing after drinking alcohol
The effect of drinking alcohol is quite a lot, namely red face and feeling hot. The condition in which the skin turns red after drinking alcohol is called alcohol flush reaction (AFR). This condition occurs in people whose bodies have genetic disorders that cause enzyme disorders in the liver (liver). This causes the body to be unable to break down acetaldehyde, which is oxidized alcohol.
The reason is, the body must be in a normal state to break down acetaldehyde into acetate. In the case of AFR, the ALDH2 enzyme that breaks down acetaldehyde into acetate does not function properly. As a result, when alcohol is drunk, blood pressure increases and acetaldehyde that cannot be broken down builds up and causes blood vessels to dilate. This is why facial skin becomes red and may feel warm or hot.
This condition generally occurs in women and people of East Asia. However, the fact is that around 500 million people around the world also experience the same thing.
Therefore, do not take it lightly if your face turns red and hot after drinking alcohol. It's not really because you don't drink regularly. So don't even increase your drinking portion or drink alcohol more often than before.
Effects of drinking alcohol in addition to red and hot faces
Usually people whose faces are immediately flushed and hot after drinking alcohol will also experience some of the effects of drinking alcohol such as:
- Redness on the neck, shoulders and all over the body (only in rare cases)
- Heart rate increases
- Headache
- Nausea
In addition, this South Korean study involving 1,763 participants found that 527 people experienced AFR (flushing after consuming alcohol), 948 did not experience AFR reactions after drinking, and 288 did not drink alcohol.
The study also states that men who drink more than 4 glasses of alcohol a week have a risk of hypertension 2 times higher than men who do not experience AFR and who do not drink alcohol at all. This is the initial risk for people with AFR to experience complications of other diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and other health problems related to hypertension.
How can you keep your face red and hot after drinking alcohol?
To prevent the unwanted effects of drinking alcohol such as flushing and heat, of course the first thing to do is to limit your alcohol consumption.
The problem is, if consumed carelessly, alcohol can have a bad effect on the body. The impact, among others, triggers brain damage, impaired liver function, increases the risk of cancer, and if consumed by pregnant women will interfere with fetal development.
Therefore, try to limit drinking alcohol per day. You don't need to drink excessively to get a relaxed sensation, let alone get drunk. The greater the alcohol content, the more limited your dose should be.
Also, never drink beer or other liquor on an empty stomach. Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach can irritate the lining of the stomach. Meanwhile, drinking alcohol after eating is safer and can prevent hangover (drunk) and red and hot face.
