Better Living Through Alcohol

A 2007 Study shows that wine kills the bacteria that cause Sore Throats and Dental Plaque.

Who Knew?? 

Wine Kills Germs That Cause Sore Throats And Dental Plaque, Says Awesome Study

• by Emmi Scott
• Published on December 18, 2019

Wine Kills Germs

You’ve probably heard about the health benefits of wine and internally rolled your eyes a bit. Sure, wine goes great with dinner, but it can’t actually make you healthier, right? Well, what you might not know is that a glass of cabernet can help you fight off your next sore throat.
A 2007 study published in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry explored wine’s ability to fight off oral streptococci and Streptococcus pyogenes. These bacteria cause dental plaque and sore throats, respectively. 

Bacteria Beware

But this study isn’t the first to research wine’s antibacterial properties. In a study published in 1988, researchers put pathogens that cause gastrointestinal infections into seven common beverages. Scientists inoculated wine, beer, sour mix, soda, diet soda, milk, and water with Salmonella, Shigella, and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli. After two days, they took a count of how much bacteria was left in each beverage.
The bacteria had the poorest survival rate in wine and grew the most in milk and water. Beer and soda allowed only a small about of bacteria to survive. Researchers surmised that the acidity of the beverages was related to whether or not the bacteria survived. And they suggested that their findings would be helpful to people traveling to places where traveler’s diarrhea is common.

A Glass of Wine for a Sore Throat

The study from The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry is the first to research wine’s effects on germs in the mouth. They found that both red and white wine kill the bacteria that cause dental plaque and sore throats. And red wine is slightly more effective in fighting bacteria than white wine is.

What was more surprising was that the scientists learned that neither wine’s alcohol nor its acidity is responsible for its antibacterial properties. Instead, it’s due to a group of organic compounds found in the alcoholic beverage. 

The researchers isolated the compounds, including lactic, malic, succinic and tartaric acids. They then neutralized the compounds’ acidity and tested their bacteria-fighting capabilities. (1, 2)
They learned that, when isolated, these compounds were more effective at killing bacteria than wine. Each compound killed more than 99.9% of the oral streptococci and Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria they were inoculated with. Because of this, the researchers think that something present in wine may decrease its ability to kill bacteria. 

So Remember, if you have a problem.........