Alcoholic drinks are amongst the most widely consumed beverages in the world; although some people take them because of their flavour and others because of the intoxicating effect, a small number of people are able to have an extraordinary experience without drinking any alcohol.People who have a rare disorder known as auto brewery syndrome are able for their bodies to produce alcohol in the digestive system. There are instances when consuming normal carbohydrates can lead to a person becoming intoxicated even though they have not drunk a single mouthful of an alcoholic drink.Auto brewery syndrome, or gut fermentation syndrome, results in the digestive system generating very large quantities of ethanol, which is the main component of alcoholic drinks. The condition is extremely rare since only a small number of cases have been studied.Individuals afflicted with the syndrome may find that fermentation takes place in their gut when they eat carbohydrates, the carbohydrates being turned into alcohol by the micro-organisms in the digestive system and this possibly leading to an increase in blood alcohol concentration.In a particular case examined by researchers, a man suffering from auto brewery syndrome saw his blood alcohol level rise sharply following an intake of carbohydrates and some fruit juice, his blood alcohol concentration reaching a level equal to that which would result from drinking about a dozen shots of whiskey.Initially, the researchers thought that the condition was due to having too much yeast in the gut, and as a result the patient was given anti-yeast medication; however, the treatment did not overcome the problem.A further investigation turned up an unexpected result: the man’s digestive system had a surplus of another organism, a bacterium known as Klebsiella pneumoniae.Klebsiella pneumoniae is usually linked with infections such as pneumonia and meningitis; in this specific case, though, the bacteria seemed to be fermenting sugar and making alcohol in his digestive system.The consequences were not merely due to intoxication; the man’s liver also displayed signs of scarring and inflammation, apparently as a result of it having been repeatedly exposed to alcohol together with bacterial damage.The researchers also subjected the mice to the bacteria and saw similar symptoms of liver damage. Their results suggested that the bacteria might be linked to some liver diseases, such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD.What was so interesting about the discovery was that it indicated microorganisms in the gut might have a far greater effect on the liver than had previously been realised.Auto brewery syndrome is still very rare and only a small number of cases have been recorded. However, for people who have it, everyday foods that contain carbohydrates may cause the body to produce alcohol.It is possible for a person to seem intoxicated even if they have not drunk any alcohol, since in a strange biological occurrence their own digestive system can act as a small fermentation system.