Check the Glow: Alcohol Awareness Week

In the spirit of April as Alcohol Awareness Month, I think it's relevant to talk about one aspect of drinking that most of us take for granted-the Asian glow. Laugh all you want, but chances are, you either suffer from the glow yourself or have observed it. Known by various nicknames, its official term is Alcohol Flush Reaction (AFR). According to the World Health Organization, roughly 50 percent of Asians have ARF to some degree, sporting its most well-known symptom-a flushing of the face that occurs after a person ingests alcohol.

Asian glow in my experience has been trivialized as an inconvenience or the object of a joke. However, it is important to remember that it is an entire physiological reaction. After ingestion, alcohol enters the bloodstream through the digestive system and is converted into acetaldehyde and then acetic acid before ultimately being processed by the liver. AFR occurs due to the lack of an enzyme called Aldehyde Dehydrognase-2 (ALDH2), which converts acetaldehyde into acetic acid. The lack of ALDH2 causes a build-up of toxic acetaldehyde, resulting in a red flush. This accumulation of acetaldehyde can also damage other organs. Symptoms such as nausea, higher pulse, drowsiness or headaches may also occur.

The amount of alcohol required to trigger a reaction and the degree of the reaction differ from person to person. Unfortunately, I am on the severe end of the spectrum. One drink and I become extremely red and oftentimes nauseous. My pulse jumps to an uncomfortably high level, and I become incredibly sleepy. This reaction, coupled with the fact that I have an incredibly high sensitivity to the taste of alcohol, led me to absolutely hate drinking.

I discovered my apparent disability early on in high school, but arrived at college hoping things might be different. As my life was entering a new arena, maybe my body would follow suit.

Unfortunately, I soon learned that I was still just as sensitive and uncomfortable. Friends swore that once I built up a tolerance, the reactions would be less severe. However, this required consistent, increasing doses of alcohol, which only made me feel sicker.

Eventually I stopped drinking altogether, and avoided any social functions where alcohol played a role. Embarrassed and bitter, I felt betrayed by my biology, as if it had conspired to deprive me of the typical college experience.

But this was the wrong mentality. There is no such thing as the typical college experience, though society seems to believe otherwise. No one else really cared that much about my own drinking, even when facing me at a party. I was only limiting myself by viewing my sobriety as a handicap.

Nowadays I drink if the occasion arises, but I listen to my body and stay within my comfort zone. Peer pressure is rare, but usually subsides if I stay firm

Additionally, I also take advantage of the wide array of alcohol-free events offered by our campus community. PartySafe@Cal alerts students to some of these events with a monthly list of late-night alcohol-free weekend events happening right here in Berkeley. This list appears on the organization's Web site and in a newsletter sent to more than 2,000 undergraduate students, a testament to the fact that having fun without alcohol is quite socially acceptable at UC Berkeley.

Alcohol Awareness month is a good time to take another look at our habits and the motivations behind them. Try the Sober Weekend Challenge, continuing until tomorrow, Apr. 18.

All you have to do is abstain from alcohol for 72 hours. It's a chance to take some time off from alcohol and re-evaluate your habits, even if all you find is that you are happy with your current lifestyle. Getting wasted will never appeal to me, but I have made peace with my Asian glow and learned to navigate around it instead of fighting my biology.

If you'd like to know more about alcohol-free events, check out PartySafe@Cal's website at http://partysafe.berkeley.edu.

Tags: EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT