You may have an intolerance to alcohol and not even know it. How many times have you heard “One for the road”, or “come on, don’t be a killjoy, just the one!”, but you don’t really feel like it. You liked the taste of that drink, but your face is burning and you feel sick. It’s not drunkenness, the beer or gin and tonic you had was really good, but you don’t feel fine. Your face may look like a tomato, you may find it hard to breathe, you may have a runny nose as if you’ve suddenly come down with a cold. In some cases your blood pressure drops and you may even feel dizzy and vomit.
It’s not that the alcohol has gone to your head, but rather that your stomach has not been able to digest it properly. This is because you may be unknowingly intolerant to alcohol.
In this article we explain how to know if you have an alcohol intolerance. A problem that you can avoid, among other things, with alcohol-free drinks.
Symptoms
The most general is a flushing or reddening of the face. Skin bumps and itching may also appear. And as we have seen, congestion or mucus, accompanied by low blood pressure. In some cases nausea and vomiting. Sometimes even diarrhea.
What causes alcohol intolerance?
According to GB Health Watch, alcohol intolerance usually occurs when your body does not have the right enzymes to break down the toxins found in alcohol. When it happens, your body is not able to metabolise alcohol properly.
Alcohol intolerance and alcohol allergy
These are two different things. Alcohol intolerance is the body’s response to the lack of enzymes needed to metabolise alcohol, while alcohol allergy is the body’s immune reaction to a specific component of the drink.
Who is affected?
Alcohol intolerance can occur due to inherited genetic traits, usually present in Asian people. You may have heard of the “Asian Rush” that happens when a person with Japanese, Chinese or Korean genes drinks an alcoholic beverage and automatically turns red in the face.
However, alcohol intolerance also occurs in non-Asians. People with a genetic disorder that prevents their body from processing consumed alcohol efficiently.
In some cases, what appears to be alcohol intolerance may be a reaction or allergy to a component of the alcoholic drink, such as chemicals or sulphites and preservatives. Many people are allergic to histamine, a by-product of fermentation or brewing. Sometimes reactions are triggered by allergy to grains, such as corn, wheat or rye, or to any other substance in alcoholic beverages.
In very rare cases, severe pain after drinking alcohol is not a sign of intolerance or allergy, but of a more serious condition, such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
How to avoid alcohol intolerance
Simply avoid or reduce the consumption of alcoholic beverages. There is great social pressure to normalise alcohol consumption. Mild intolerance to alcohol does not require a visit to a doctor. You simply need to avoid drinking alcohol, limit the amount you consume or avoid certain types of alcoholic beverages. At The Blue Dolphin Store, we make it easy for you. You can enjoy your favourite drinks without drinking a drop of alcohol. In addition to non-alcoholic wines, you will find all categories of 0.0% alcohol drinks: non-alcoholic beers, alcohol-free vermouths, alcohol-free spirits and more.
When you should visit a doctor
If you suffer a severe reaction or intense pain after drinking alcohol, consult your doctor, in case you suffer from something more severe than alcohol intolerance, such as an undetected allergy or, rarely but not impossibly, Hodgkin’s lymphoma. But there is no cause for alarm as Hodgkin’s disease is very rare. It accounts for 1% of all malignant neoplasms, so it is unlikely that if you feel unwell after drinking alcohol, it is due to Hodgkin’s disease.
