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Mans Rare Digestive Disorder Caused Him to Get Drunk From Carbs

Auto-brewery syndrome. No, it’s not what explains your buddy’s misguided masterplan to open his own brewpub.

It is being used, though, to describe how a 46-year-old man was arrested for drunk driving when he hadn’t consumed a drop of alcohol. Turns out, the poor guy was suffering from excessive fermentation in the gut.

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Ethanol is a normal byproduct of our body’s efforts to break down carbs and sugars, but this 230-pound 6-foot-2 dude was booked for a blood alcohol level of 0.2 percent — close to double the legal limit.

What a superpower.

Turning Bread into Booze

So what’s going on here?

The man’s quest to find out led him to a bunch of doctors at New York’s Richmond University Medical Center, who have since authored a study on his condition in BMJ Open Gastroenterology.

The condition typically presents itself in patients with diabetes, liver problems or chronic intestinal obstructions, according to further research conducted by researchers from Panola College and Stony Brook University Hospital. But it can also appear in people with otherwise normal health. In this particular case, the Richmond University Medical Center doctors traced the condition back to a 2011 script of antibiotics prescribed to treat a thumb injury. The medication likely altered the man’s digestive tract and led to what is now known as auto-brewery syndrome.

The Treatment

While getting boozed on bread and pasta might seem a bit of a lark, untreated auto-brewery syndrome can have serious consequences beyond getting busted by the cops.

“Even after symptoms have resolved, the long-term exposure to endogenous ethanol can result in addiction to and cravings for alcohol with subsequent drinking,” the Panola and Stony Brook authors write. “Patients should be educated about the possibility of alcohol addiction after symptoms are resolved and be given referrals for alcohol treatment if needed.”

Treatment involves probiotics to help repair the intestinal microbiome. Otherwise, patients are advised to avoid sugars and carbs and opt instead for proteins.

As for our hero? He’s beaten the syndrome and is back living his normal life and eating a normal diet — although he’s still breathalysing himself every now and then just to be sure.

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Matt Shea, Khareem Sudlow