Drunk Without a Drink : When the Gut Turns Into a Brewery

Auto-Brewery Syndrome
How would you feel when you haven’t drunk any alcohol but still feel drunk? If you have ever experienced that, then it’s because of your gut microbes converting carbohydrates into ethanol through fermentation. Thus here body makes alcohol itself, converting the gut into a small brewery.

How it happens
Normally small amount of fermentation occurs in the gut, which is a natural process.
In ABS, there is an overgrowth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (brewer’s yeast)
Candida albicans (fungi) converts carbs into alcohol, and then alcohol enters the bloodstream.

Symptoms

  • Dizziness
  • Confusion
  • Mood swing
  • High blood alcohol level
  • Feeling of alcohol intoxication

Have you ever come across a patient with no alcohol history, yet he feels drunk?

MBH/PS

1 Like

Fascinating and lesser-known condition—really shows how gut microbiota can impact the body in unexpected ways.

Interesting read, I learned something new today.