Asian Alcohol Flush

Many of you who know me, also know that I turn red when I drink. I could eat a full meal with a glass of wine and turn red and not just my face, but my entire body. Drinking in excess also brings about an elevated heart rate, sweats, and throwing up - but I've never had a hangover. So I asked my Uncle about this condition I have and he said I was allergic to alcohol, but last week I was reading news on Yahoo and there was a piece on esophageal cancer. It said that those who have this enzyme deficiency and predominantly Asian in descent and lack an enzyme that does not allow the body to properly break down alcohol when it is consumed. How interesting! It never occurred to me that this was something other people dealt with, but after reading several articles about it - "I am not alone!" Ash Wednesday I had a glass of wine with some food at a ribbon cutting I went to. The glass of wine was $6, so I made sure I was going to finish it. Then I went to Ash Wednesday service at the church. My friend Michelle asked me if I had been working out because I was all red. I told her "no, I just had a glass of wine." I've read you can curb the redness by taking a Zantac or Pepcid prior to drinking. I don't drink that often, nor do I think it's a good idea to mix any kind of medication OTC or not with alcohol. I think I'll be giving away my last Mango Smirnoff I have in my fridge. I know Jeff's not going to drink them and I think I'll save myself the redness! Here's the link to what it says on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_flush_reaction.