The Sunset Blog — Asian Flush, ALDH2 & Alcohol Science

Heart racing after a few drinks? Alcohol speeds up your heart rate for several reasons — here's what's behind it, how to bring it down, and when a racing heart means you should get checked.

Two drinks in and the room's spinning while your friend's fine? It comes down to one number — your BAC — and a handful of things that make it spike. Here's what's really going on.

You've seen the ads — a patch you wear before drinking to stop the flush. But do Asian glow patches actually work? The answer comes down to what your skin will and won't let through.

Red face, sweaty, like someone cranked the thermostat? Alcohol opens your blood vessels and floods your skin with warm blood — even as your core quietly cools. Here's what's really going on.

Acetaldehyde is the harmful middle step when your body processes alcohol — and how fast you clear it shapes everything from the flush to long-term risk. Here's the science of breaking it down.

Struggling to breathe after a drink isn't a side effect to wait out. Here's how to tell an emergency from a manageable reaction, why alcohol tightens the airways, and what to do.