Imagine waking up, having a breakfast of bread, and hours later stumbling around, slurring your words, and showing clear signs of intoxication—without having consumed a single drop of alcohol. For most people, this sounds like science fiction. For Eric Poulin, a father of five in Nova Scotia, Canada, this has been reality for nearly a decade.
Eric's Story
For almost ten years, Eric Poulin has lived through distressing episodes in which he appears drunk without having consumed any alcoholic beverages. At home, he would go through crises he couldn't remember. "The kids would tell me things that happened, that I was crying and saying I was going to die," he said in an interview. "I don't remember any of it."
What was most painful, however, was not the physical symptoms. It was the disbelief of everyone around him. Family, friends, and even healthcare professionals suspected he was an alcoholic hiding his drinking. For years, Poulin tried to convince doctors that he did not consume alcohol, but tests consistently showed elevated ethanol levels in his blood.
It was only in 2026 that the mystery was finally unraveled: Eric Poulin has auto-brewery syndrome—an extremely rare condition in which the body naturally produces alcohol internally.
What Exactly Is Auto-Brewery Syndrome?
Auto-brewery syndrome—also known as gut fermentation syndrome or drunkenness disease—is a medical condition in which certain microorganisms in the digestive tract ferment carbohydrates into ethanol, the same alcohol found in alcoholic beverages.
Under normal conditions, our intestines host a balanced community of bacteria and fungi. But in auto-brewery syndrome, this balance is disrupted. Fungi and bacteria capable of fermenting alcohol become the dominant species in the person's gut. The result is a continuous production of ethanol in quantities sufficient to raise blood alcohol levels and cause symptoms of intoxication.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, fewer than 100 cases of the syndrome have been documented worldwide. It is a condition so rare that it remains largely understudied, making diagnosis extremely difficult.
Symptoms: The Same as Intoxication
The symptoms of auto-brewery syndrome are practically identical to those of alcohol intoxication:
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Slurred speech and difficulty communicating
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Loss of motor coordination and dizziness
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Mental confusion and memory problems
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Drowsiness and fatigue
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Alcohol-smelling breath
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Nausea and vomiting
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Mood swings
What makes the syndrome particularly insidious is its unpredictability: episodes can arise at any moment, often after the ingestion of carbohydrate-rich foods.
Causes: An Intestinal Imbalance
The condition is caused by an imbalance in the gut microbiota. Among the main factors that can trigger the syndrome are:
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Prolonged use of antibiotics, which eliminates healthy bacteria and allows the overgrowth of fermenting fungi
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Pre-existing conditions, such as diabetes or gastrointestinal disorders
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Bariatric surgeries, which alter intestinal physiology
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A diet high in carbohydrates, which provides "fuel" for fermentation
The main microorganisms involved are yeasts of the genera Candida and Saccharomyces, especially Saccharomyces cerevisiae—the same yeast used in brewing beer and baking bread.
Treatment: A Daily Battle
Conventional treatment for auto-brewery syndrome involves two main approaches:
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A strict low-carbohydrate diet, to reduce the "fuel" available for fermentation
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Antifungal medications, to control the overgrowth of microorganisms
In Poulin's case, however, neither strategy worked fully. He tried cutting carbohydrates from his diet years ago, but the symptoms persisted. Antifungal treatments also brought no success.
The medical team following Poulin, led by Dr. Luke Chen, a hematologist and professor at Dalhousie University, is now exploring a promising alternative: fecal microbiota transplantation in capsule form—a procedure aimed at restoring a healthy balance of gut bacteria.
As Dr. Chen aptly summarized: "The difficulty with rare diseases is that once you get a diagnosis, the journey isn't over—you still have to find the right treatment."
The Impact on Eric's Life
Since 2023, Poulin has been unable to work. The unpredictability of the episodes has turned his daily life into a minefield. "I don't know what's going to happen day to day, hour to hour. It puts a lot of limitations on what I can do, where I can go, on work, on money, on everything," he confessed. "My whole life has been turned upside down because of this."
Being a father of five has also become an immense challenge. There are moments when he cannot be present, or when his children must witness crises that their father will not remember the next day.
A Fight for Visibility
Eric's wife, Sarah Poulin, has become his greatest ally and advocate. She closely monitors her husband's symptoms and fights to raise awareness of the syndrome, believing the condition is likely underdiagnosed.
To help others in the same situation, Sarah is launching an app called ABStrack, which allows auto-brewery syndrome patients to track their symptoms and present concrete data to healthcare professionals.
"It can help people who are in Eric's situation, who know something is wrong and maybe people don't believe them, thinking they're alcoholics drinking in secret," Sarah explained.
A Real Condition, Not a Choice
Eric Poulin's story reminds us that the human body still holds mysteries that science is far from fully unraveling. What might sound to some like a "curse" or even a "stroke of luck"—having a portable brewery inside you—is, for those who actually live with the syndrome, a debilitating condition that affects work, family life, and even their credibility in the eyes of others.
Poulin's case is also a warning about how easy it is to judge what we do not understand. For years, he was seen as someone hiding an addiction, when in reality he was a victim of a rare and little-known medical condition.
