Man's gut fermented food into alcohol, making him drunk, case study finds

Wow - you learn something new every day...

Just a story about a medical condition I wouldn't have believed existed - others might find it interesting...thanks!

Link to story

Most beer guts are the result of consuming fermented brew, but a new case study describes a rare syndrome that had one man's gut fermenting brew, not consuming it. It's called gut fermentation syndrome or auto-brewery syndrome, and it's "a relatively unknown phenomenon in Western medicine" according to a study published in July's International Journal of Clinical Medicine. "Only a few cases have been reported in the last three decades"

It's probably a good thing that this is a rare condition. I can't imagine how you would keep a job with this since you wouldn't ever appear to be sober or have the ability to legally drive yourself anywhere.
it's almost too much to believe...I'd have immediately have called BS on anyone trying to tell me this is why they were acting drunk...

Luckily for this guy (or unluckily I guess depending on your viewpoint & how much of an alcoholic you are) it can be managed with some anti-fungal meds.

ETA: Adding another link - NPR

Auto-Brewery Syndrome: Apparently, You Can Make Beer In Your Gut

Rally Occificer, I jist gots a beer goot. Hey, lemmie see yer mug, I'll cough ya oop a gluss! (hiccup)

Think that'll work on a DUI stop? I can't wait to see the first one try it on COPS or America's Dumbest shows. Someone will.. You just know they are going to, after hearing about this.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I'm sure it'll be tried within the next week...it's inevitable

Even looking through the comments on the NPR site one of the people joked that they'd print the article & keep it in the car...

On a serious note though :
I never condone drinking & driving ever, kids.
It's very bad & hurts/kills others. It's a very serious issue. Don't do it.

On a lighter note:
Just think of all the money you'd save on beer!!!

reply to post by coldkidc


I have it... We can hook all the people who have this disorder into big towers like The Matrix so they can produce...what? Hmm... It's not bile, it's not quite beer. Bleer! That's the ticket. All the colleges will want some. It'll make a killing. Bleer for all!

The right microbes can make alcohol out of sugars and starches. A lot of people walk around with a buzz half the time. When the balance of microbes is off this can happen. We should actually have a thousand different kinds of microbes living in our guts, then they can help us fight bad bacteria. I read that a majority of people nowadays have only about a hundred or less. This makes us more susceptible to diseases once the flora is unbalanced. S&F

There is a lot of research coming out on this now, I hope they figure it all out. The problem gets worse from the use of antimicrobials on the foods we eat. Just think what imbalances occur from the BT gene being on food. The foods now have chemistry to kill microbes in the gut and cause an imbalance. This is not a simple thing to fix, we are all doomed to have more than our share of health problems in the coming years. We are all in it together, even the people who make the food.

reply to post by coldkidc

Yep, it's rare but has been known for some time. I recall about three decades ago, a family member who's a doctor had to go to court to testify on behalf of a patient -- a teetotaller who got charged with DUI after a random roadside breath test one night. Same condition: the guy brewed his own alcohol in his gut!

Interestingly, it was fairly low levels usually and apparently had little effect on him.

The guy was still technically guilty under the letter of the law (as the statute refers to the blood alcohol level, not how it got there), but I'm pretty sure they took the mitigating circumstances into account.

Wrabbit2000
reply to post by coldkidc

 

I have it... We can hook all the people who have this disorder into big towers like The Matrix so they can produce...what? Hmm... It's not bile, it's not quite beer. Bleer! That's the ticket. All the colleges will want some. It'll make a killing. Bleer for all!

Barfohol!