Alcohol-Producing Gut Bacteria

magine beer brewing inside your gut (SMELLY!)

The most common liver disease is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) where a person is unable to efficiently burn fat and instead stores excess amounts of fat in various organs, such as the liver.

As too much fat builds up in the liver, it begins to constrict the liver’s ability to function properly and causes excess inflammation which can eventually lead to permanent liver damage and cancer.  

Studies from Yuan and his colleagues out of China have found these individuals have high percentage of certain types of bacteria (i.e., Klebsiella pneumoniae) inside of their gut which tend to convert starch into alcohol (i.e., similar appearing to beer and wine) and not into usable energy.  With continued consumption of excess starch, the blood alcohol levels can become dangerously too high. 

Along with causing fatty liver disease, excess starch consumption (such as bread, pasta, potatoes, rice) along with animal protein (i.e., fish, dairy products, poultry, fish, red meat, eggs) can cause other hallmark diseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease. 

The scope of this problem is huge in the United States where 30-40% of adults in the United States have fatty liver disease (NIDDKD, 2016). 

As of 2018, 34.2 million Americans, or 10.5% of the population, had diabetes of which 7.3 million of them weren’t even aware of their diagnosis.  It is heavily linked to the Standard American diet and other lifestyle factors which continues to exponentially increase the risk of overgrowing unhealthy bacteria inside a person’s gut and increasing their risk of significant chronic diseases.

Getting rid of these bacteria via antibiotics is not the solution since it will only make matters worse.  The thing's for certain is changing a person’s eating habits can make a huge difference. 

Have more fresh nutrient-dense foods rich in lots of vegetables as one of the main staples. 

Reference

“Definition & Facts of NAFLD & NASH.” (2016). National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDKD). Retrieved from: https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/liver-disease/nafld-nash/definition-facts

Yuan, J., Chen, C., Cui, J., Lu, J., Yan, C., Wei, X., ... & Cheng, W. (2019). Fatty liver disease caused by high-alcohol-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae. Cell metabolism, 30(4), 675-688.

AUTHOR

Dr. Payal Bhandari M.D. is one of U.S.'s top leading integrative functional medical physicians and the founder of SF Advanced Health. She combines the best in Eastern and Western Medicine to understand the root causes of diseases and provide patients with personalized treatment plans that quickly deliver effective results. Dr. Bhandari specializes in cell function to understand how the whole body works. Dr. Bhandari received her Bachelor of Arts degree in biology in 1997 and Doctor of Medicine degree in 2001 from West Virginia University. She the completed her Family Medicine residency in 2004 from the University of Massachusetts and joined a family medicine practice in 2005 which was eventually nationally recognized as San Francisco’s 1st patient-centered medical home. To learn more, go to www.sfadvancedhealth.com.