U.S. Immigration focuses on Life in the U.S.: A man from Texas has a genuine "beer belly" due to a rare condition known as "auto-brewery syndrome," where the starches he consumes ferment into alcohol in his stomach, causing him to become intoxicated even without drinking alcohol.
According to a report by ABC News, when the 61-year-old man arrived at the hospital due to dizziness, his blood alcohol content was as high as 0.37%, nearly five times the local legal limit for driving under the influence in Texas, leading everyone to believe he was intoxicated.
However, the man insisted he had not consumed any alcohol. "He felt dizzy and uncomfortable, had a strong smell of alcohol on him, and looked as if he was drunk, possibly even suffering from alcohol poisoning," said Barbara Cordell, Dean of the Nursing School at Panola College in Texas, in a media interview. "But he claimed he hadn't been drinking. His wife, who is a nurse, believes him, and I believe him too." Therefore, Cordell and gastroenterologist Justin McCarthy began to investigate what was happening with this patient.
During the experiment, the man was isolated for 24 hours to ensure he had no contact with any alcohol or sugar, yet his blood alcohol content still measured 0.12%.
Experts were astonished to discover that the man had a rare condition known as "auto-brewery syndrome," also referred to as "gut fermentation syndrome." In summary, his gastrointestinal tract functions like a brewery, with an astonishing amount of yeast, so the food he consumes, especially carbohydrates, ferments under the action of the yeast, producing alcohol and causing him to be "drunk" from the inside out.
Researchers suspect that he may have developed this condition after undergoing surgery for a foot injury in 2004, during which antibiotics killed all the bacteria in his gut, allowing the yeast to thrive.
Currently, this patient, who has redefined the term "beer belly," has reduced his intake of starches and carbohydrates on his doctor's advice while continuing to take medication to suppress the activity of the yeast in his body.
