As we alluded to earlier, there’s a difference between actual alcohol intolerance and an allergy to one of the ingredients in many alcoholic beverages.
Alcohol tolerance is usually an inherited condition, but it may present later in life. It involves a dysfunction of the enzymes needed (usually in the liver) to break down alcohol in the metabolism.
Risk factors for alcohol intolerance include:
Being ethnically Asian or of Asian descent
Sometimes, it can be worsened by “hay fever” and seasonal allergies
Certain diseases may cause a person to temporarily or permanently become unable to tolerate alcohol — Hodgkin’s lymphoma, for example