Eggnog is roughly 20% sugar by volume, which is insane. That’s like drinking liquefied candy canes. Your small intestine can only absorb so much sugar at once; the rest gets dumped into the large intestine, where gut bacteria throw a rave and produce gas, bloating, and diarrhea.
Cocktail | alcoholic beverage | Britannica
Think of it this way: when bacteria ferment sugar, they create byproducts. Those byproducts are not confetti. One of them is short-chain fatty acids, which pull more water into your stool. Congratulations—you’ve just made your poop a water park.
And if you spike your nog with alcohol? That’s a double whammy. Alcohol irritates the stomach lining and speeds up digestion, so you’re basically chugging a bouncy castle. Your intestines will bounce you right out the back door.
The Egg Factor (Raw or Cooked?)
Let’s talk about the eggs themselves. Traditional eggnog uses raw eggs, which can harbor Salmonella. If you’re unlucky, you won’t just have diarrhea—you’ll have a full-blown food poisoning symphony. The good news is most store-bought nog is pasteurized. The bad news is that if you make it from scratch, you’re basically playing Russian roulette with a whisk.
Even if you avoid Salmonella, raw egg whites contain a protein called avidin that can bind to biotin. That’s not a gut issue, but it’s fun to say “avidin” at parties to sound smart while you watch someone sip from a punch bowl filled with potential regret.
