Can You Gain 5 Pounds from a Glass of Wine?

I have an autoimmune disease, that was finally correctly diagnosed after twenty five years of symptoms. I worked for more than a decade to lower my inflammation levels and now my body is a finely tuned machine.

I don’t do red meat, gluten, sugar, and soy, processed foods and I avoid dairy and alcohol. I stay low on carbs and focus on eating lots of healthy proteins and fats. I eat 90% organic and stay away from plastics, pesticides, chemicals and toxins.

I know it sounds extreme but that is what it takes for me to feel well. Sugar lights up my brain just like heroin does in an addict.

But every once in a while I can enjoy some chocolate (sweetened with stevia or monkfruit) and I have done okay on a shot or two of alcohol, since vodka and gin are very low carb. But wine or those froo froo cocktails I love, not so much. I had such a bad reaction once that I had to do a several week detox.

I am stronger now, so hope springs eternal, right?

One recent day I had a hankering for red wine to accompany dinner on a night out on the town with a close friend. I enjoyed it wholeheartedly and expected to be okay the next morning. Because of those earlier bad reactions, I was concerned that my body would process the wine as SUGAR!

I awoke several times that night feeling that weird feeling in my stomach that signifies to me that my blood sugar is off. When I weighed myself in the morning, my weight was up 5 full pounds!!! I was visibly puffy in my face, hands, feet and gut.

I felt sluggish and polluted all day. As a Functional Medicine Health Coach, I had a few moves: I kept drinking water and lemon, then water and electrolytes, as well as herbal tea and bone broth all day to flush that perceived toxin out my system and bring my body back to its normal state.

The second day saw a slow movement towards my healthy homeostasis and by the third day my inflammation levels had clearly lowered. I was once again back to five pounds lighter.

It is true you can gain 5 lbs overnight when you ingest a foreign substance that your body repels. I won’t be drinking wine again any time soon!