Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain
Speaker 1: Stuff Lauren volabamb here. Alcohol is a complicated substance. It's
Speaker 1: used in celebrations and ceremonies and is a drug that
Speaker 1: we should all handle responsibly, and in the case of
Speaker 1: a select few of us, we brew it in our
Speaker 1: own guts. Wait what, Yes, it's true. Some people brew
Speaker 1: alcohol in their own bellies, and it's really not as
Speaker 1: convenient as it might sound. People with this condition have
Speaker 1: been arrested for unknowingly driving under the influence of alcohol,
Speaker 1: and have been accused by family members and medical professionals
Speaker 1: of being closet drinkers. The condition is called auto brewery
Speaker 1: syndrome or gut fermentation syndrome. For people who have it,
Speaker 1: the simple act of eating carb rich foods I think bagels, pasta,
Speaker 1: or sugary sodas kicks off a series of unfortunate guests
Speaker 1: intestinal events that result in elevated blood alcohol levels. In
Speaker 1: most humans, our gastrointestinal system will ferment tiny levels of
Speaker 1: ethanol during the course of normal digestion due to the
Speaker 1: normal yeasts and bacteria in our guts that eat carbohydrates
Speaker 1: and excrete alcohol. But for people with auto brewery syndrome,
Speaker 1: one or several of these usually harmless microorganisms has overgrown
Speaker 1: to the point that they're basically pathogenic. They create so
Speaker 1: much ethanol that the person can have the signs and
Speaker 1: symptoms of alcohol intoxication even if they haven't ingested a
Speaker 1: single drop. Although rare, autobrewery syndrome affects both adults and
Speaker 1: children and is thought to be widely undiagnosed. As a result,
Speaker 1: people experience side effects that are chalked up to other maladies,
Speaker 1: such as chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel, or memory loss.
Speaker 1: They experience life through a belching, dizzy lens and researchers
Speaker 1: aren't entirely sure why this happens. It's definitely an imbalance
Speaker 1: in the patient's gut, oral or urinary microbiome and or microbiome,
Speaker 1: depending on whether you're talking about bacteria or yeasts, but
Speaker 1: those in themselves are really complicated parts of our health
Speaker 1: that aren't entirely understood. There is evidence that having underlying
Speaker 1: conditions like various gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes, liver dysfunction, or genetic
Speaker 1: differences in how your digestive enzymes operate might make you
Speaker 1: more likely to experience auto brewery syndrome, but the only
Speaker 1: two factors that have been really definitively linked to it
Speaker 1: are the use of antibiotics, which can kill off the
Speaker 1: normal and even helpful bacteria in our microbiome, and the
Speaker 1: consumption of carbohydrates and sugars. The condition was first reported
Speaker 1: in Japan in nineteen fifty two, but wasn't formally named
Speaker 1: until nineteen ninety. To diagnose autobrewery syndrome, patients will be
Speaker 1: given a physical and a few lab tests, including stool
Speaker 1: and or endoscopy cultures for the bacteria and fungi known
Speaker 1: to be culprits. Patients are also often isolated for a
Speaker 1: period of time and given high carb, high sugar foods
Speaker 1: to eat. If their blood alcohol levels rise, auto brewery
Speaker 1: syndrome may be what's happening. With a diagnosis, patients are
Speaker 1: treated for whatever yeast or bacterial overgrowth has been detected
Speaker 1: and encouraged to go on a high protein, low carb
Speaker 1: diet until their symptoms resolve. With help from a nutritionist
Speaker 1: and avoidance of antibiotics, patients can manage the condition and
Speaker 1: avoid relapses. Though some patients have had the best long
Speaker 1: term luck after fecal microbiotic transplants, in which a healthy
Speaker 1: donor's poop is used to help you grow your own
Speaker 1: healthy microbiome. Today's episode is based on the article The
Speaker 1: Curse of Brewing Beer in your Own Belly on howstifforks
Speaker 1: dot com, written by Lorel Dove. Brain Stuff is production
Speaker 1: of by Heart Radio in partnership with hostfforks dot com
Speaker 1: and is produced by Time They're Clang. Four more podcasts
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