All food translates to a sort of drunkenness in our bellies. As stand-up comedian John Mulaney put it, “When people order fries, they act like it is a little adventure.”
What do we make, however, of the guy whose post-meal oblivion is literally the result of his gut fermenting food into alcohol?
The most current case comes from a 61-year-old man from Texas, USA who appeared to be drunk all the time, even when he hadn't had a drop to drink. The problem? He wasn’t hounding down shots of vodka like your average uni student (we assume), but he was eating carbohydrates.
Before you start thinking you have another reason to ban (or add more) carbs in your life, he has what’s been labeled auto-brewery syndrome. You’re hearing it right: automatic brewery… syndrome? Also known as, Gut Fermentation Syndrome. Basically, a yeast that lived in his stomach turned all starches into fermented sugar, producing alcohol. His stomach was essentially an ultra microbrewing facility. Can you imagine if every rendezvous you had with a plate of chips was the same as going to the bar?
Assuming his last meal hasn’t thrown him over the BAC level equating possibility of death (anything over 0.30), the next most pressing concerns include: is his liver undergoing the same exhaustion as that of the alcoholic, just from eating? More curiously, we wonder, how has he not been incarcerated by now? And what kind of brew is he making in there? Is it more a Guinness or a Heineken?
Remember, Texas man, with great power comes great responsibility.
