Kill Germs With Spiced Wines
Not only are wines good for your heart, but adding herbs and spices can also render wine a good shield against bacterial infections. David Biello summarized some of them in his entry on the chemistry of wine:
[snip]…simply adding oregano leaves to either white or red wine can protect against bacteria such as Escherica coli or Salmonella enterica when applied to food. The oregano leaves contain carvacrol, which disrupts the bacteria’s cell walls.
Other spices such as cloves, cinammon and lemongrass also add to the antimicrobial properties of alcohol, making it an ideal preservative or marinade. They say it can also be used as a food wash, but really, I cannot imagine washing my veggies in wine, spiced or not.
David also mentions that the alcohol in wine fortifies the dentin in teeth by removing water and can therefore strengthen teeth. The only people I can imagine benefitting from this though, are wine tasters, or those who really drink a lot, as the alcohol has to be kept in the mouth for a quite a while for the alcohol to take effect. And if you’re drinking red wines… er, strong discolored teeth, anyone?
[Photo: quentinh]
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Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] And no, I’m not solely looking at those traditionally branded as “healthy food” or “nutritious foods”. Heck, some functional foods are not that nutritious, and some will wreck your weight-loss plans. Take a look at my previous posts on chocolate, spiced wines, and even chocolate chip cookes. But they confer medicinal properties, which is what earned them a place in this blog. [...]