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in my opinion, zantac (ranitidine) works a lot better than pepcid ac, which doesn't really work for me.  I usually get red after 1 beer, but with zantac I can drink a couple in succession and only get pink after about 2 hours.  i've read online that ranitidine and cimetidine (tagamet), but not famotidine (pepcid) inhibit gastric alcohol dehydrogenase, which reduces the amount of acetaldehyde in your body at one time, same as the convivia drug currently being developed.

i just found out some information relating to the effects of kudzu (pueraria) on acetaldehyde metabolism.  kudzu root (pueraria radix) is commonly used to make people less likely to drink alcohol, because it slows down acetaldehyde metabolism.  on the other hand, pueraria flos, or the extract of the flower of the same plant, is supposed to increase acetaldehyde metabolism.  here is the study:

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&a … t=14511203

and here is a link to a new product that contains this pueraria flower extract (called gen hua in chinese):

http://www.toyobiopharma.com/pdf/Puer-1-2-3-4.pdf

i dont know if this would work, seeing as it is currently marketed as a diet product, but i would like to give it a try.

Here is an article about Raptor Pharmaceutical's plan to develop the product-

http://www.devicespace.com/news_print.a … tyId=74114

i really dont know why it doesnt work 100%, since based on my reading on the internet about the effectiveness of NAC it should be a full cure.  i know there are researchers in scandinavia who are doing research on the anti-cancerous effects of NAC and its effect on acetaldehyde (look up mikko salaspuro- he is researching an orally taken pill that reduces oral salivary acetaldehyde following smoking, i think).  i dont think it works 100% because ive tried taking a ridiculous amount of that jarrow stuff (like 10 pills) and it still doesnt seem to work. 

johanowns- ive read about vitamin C too and apparently its required to keep the NAC in our system longer.  but why doesnt the extended release on the NAC tablets work?  is it still not enough?

if NAC gets rid of the acetaldehyde, why should it be necessary to still take pepcid?

Also about building up a tolerance- Ive found in my experience that drinking regularly only helps a little bit. 

My guess is that the problem is you start breaking down alcohol more quickly as well as acetaldehyde, and since your alcohol dehydrogenase works fine, your ability to break down ethanol goes up faster than your ability to break down acetaldehyde, and you end up with the same problem that you had originally, because the issue is the ratio of alcohol dehydrogenase activity to acetaldehyde dehydrogenase activity. (1:1) would be ideal, or less, like 1:2, which means you process acetaldehyde twice as fast as ethanol, which means basically no acetaldehyde in your bloodstream.

However, Ive read about the MEOS (microsomal ethanol oxidizing system) that also breaks down alcohol independently of alcohol and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase in your body.  this system works quicker the more you drink, so alcoholics especially have a very active MEOS that ends up processing more alcohol than the normal enzymatic route.  I know this from reading around the internet, I am not a biologist or anything but this information makes sense to me based on my changing tolerance over the past few years.

ALSO a few month ago I went to the doctor because my liver was aching (I was drinking alot even though I get red) and he told me to take a few weeks off.  So I took two weeks off and when I drank again I got red but it wasn't that bad, and I got pleasantly buzzed because my alcohol dehydrogenase had gone back down to its normal levels, so my breakdown of ethanol was much slower, resulting in a little bit of tipsiness (yay). 

What bothers me is that when we red-face asians go out drinking with other non-blushing asians or non asians we are getting ready for at best a very heady buzz or at worst a puke in the bushes, and other people are getting a really nice, clear-headed ethanol buzz.  drinking a little without having to feel acetaldehyde in your blood (you guys probably know what that feels like) would be really nice.

also,
NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) definitely improves symptoms other than redness like heartbeat, headache, and hangover.  id say as of now that just nac tablets reduces redness by about 25-50 percent and the other symptoms a LOT, as in almost non existent.  seriously, you guys should try it

There's this stuff i found at Super Supplements called N-A-C Sustain, by jarrow formulas which has these bilayer tablets that are designed to release both quick doses of acetyl cysteine and also a prolonged release in the intestine.  I have found that taking like 7 or 8 of these before drinking makes the experience much better.  I don't know if this is a placebo or not but i will keep researching.  the sustained release part is important because cysteine disappears from the body so quickly.

based on the spelling and overall image of the site im guessing the whole thing is bs and the guy is out to make a few quick bucks maybe to donate to actual bona fide research or to buy himself a vacation in the bahamas.

Wai,

how do you know?  is your hair falling out?

concerned-