Auto-brewery syndrome: Man’s gut brews its own beer

Team Udayavani, Dec 16, 2021, 3:51 PM IST

A 40-year-old US man has been diagnosed with a rare medical condition that causes his gut to brew its own alcohol every time he eats carbs.

As per reports, the man Adam Stump was arrested for drunk driving after he failed the Breathalyzer test in the year 2014. He however maintained that he had not consumed alcohol, a claim that was not believed by the police nor his family.

Eventually, the doctors diagnosed that he was suffering from auto-brewery syndrome (ABS), a rare medical condition in which intoxicating quantities of ethanol are produced through endogenous fermentation within the digestive system. The syndrome would make him very drunk, aggressive, blackout, or slur his speech, even if he has not consumed a drop of the hard stuff.

Upon carrying out medical tests, doctors found high levels of a fungus called Saccharomyces cerevisiae in his faeces. The fungus is also known as brewer’s yeast because it’s used by beer-makers to convert carbohydrates in grains into alcohol.

Doctors prescribed probiotics, anti-fungal medication apart from putting him on a strict low-carbohydrate diet to flush out the excess fungus in his gut.

Adam shared that some people can be funny when they are drunk, but the auto-brewery syndrome is not the same, it is a personality changer. “It’s like having a hangover and being drunk at the same time,” he added.