Wine kills germs that cause tartar and sore throats, according to a study

Wine, consumed in moderate quantities, has health-promoting properties and even neutralizes bacteria in the mouth.

But it is not the alcohol in the wine that is responsible for the disinfecting effect of the grape juice, as a new study shows.

Munich - It has been scientifically proven that wine can be beneficial to human health.

Hippocrates, the most famous doctor of antiquity, is said to have recommended wine to his patients as a sleeping and sedative.

The Romans are said to have given the elderly wines for loss of appetite, wines with a high tannin content for bleeding and heavy red wines for febrile stomach and intestinal diseases.

The latter in particular contain many antioxidants that counteract circulatory disorders and hardening of the arteries and thus reduce the risk of strokes and heart attacks.

But that's not all.

Wine can do even more.

The grape juice also has a disinfecting effect and is therefore an effective remedy against harmful oral germs.

As early as 1988, a study examined the antibacterial effects * of wine, beer, skimmed milk and carbonated beverages, all of which were enriched with infectious bacteria such as salmonella, coli and shigella.

The wine had the least amount of living bacteria after two days, which means that it is actually an effective disinfectant and bacteria cannot survive in it.

Wine fights germs in the mouth and thereby prevents plaque and sore throats

With this in mind, researchers recently conducted another study to find out why and how wine exerts such antibacterial properties.

They found out that it specifically fights those germs in the mouth that cause plaque and sore throats. 

In the study, which was published in the

, the researchers found that the acidity and besides the alcohol concentration in the wine are not, as previously thought, responsible for the antibacterial properties.

Instead, it is due to a number of organic compounds found in both red and white wines *.

The researchers isolated the compounds - lactic, malic, succinic, and tartaric acid - and found, after neutralizing their acid, that they kill 99.9 percent of the tooth bacteria and germs that cause sore throats.

Red wine is even a little better than white wine.

The primary disinfectant in wine is not alcohol, but its acidity.

So if you feel a scratchy throat in the near future, don't reach for Grippostadt & Co. right away, but rather treat yourself to a sip of wine.

But please don't get cocky: if you suspect a corona infection, a glass of wine won't help either.

*