Auto-Brewery Syndrome or Gut Fermentation Syndrome is a documented syndrome whereby patients become intoxicated without ingesting alcohol. In one instance the patient’s stomach became infected by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also known as brewer’s yeast, after taking a course of antibiotics following surgery for a broken foot. The antibiotics wiped out the normal bacteria in the stomach making room for the yeast to flourish. So when the patient ate or drank starch containing foods, such as bagels, pasta or even a soda, the yeast fermented the sugars into ethanol, and he would get drunk. Essentially, he was brewing beer in his own gut. To test this, doctors had the patient eat carbohydrate-rich foods, and then periodically checked his blood for alcohol which rose as high as 0.12 percent. The typical legal limit is 0.08 percent. For treatment the patient was given an oral course of antifungals followed by Acidophilus tablets to re-colonize the gut. Auto-Brewery syndrome has been used as defense against drunk driving charges.
© 2016 Steve Farmer
