New study finds Red Wine may be beneficial to Oral Health
December 14, 2009
Recently, scientists in Italy performed a study that sommeliers everywhere can relate to. According to this study, the consumption of red wine has a positive link to oral hygiene. Drinking red wine during and after eating can benefit in the prevention of dental erosion and cavities.
What’s especially interesting is that the alcohol content is not the reason for this extra healthcare perk as one might initially believe. The actual reason for the positive link comes from a certain flavanoid called proanthocyanidins, which is also found in dark chocolate. This flavanoid is already known to have oxidizing properties, but the components responsible for improving oral hygiene are still unknown.
Unfortunately, red wine still contains a large amount of sugars and acids, prime causes of dental erosion. Thus it has yet to be determined if red wine is actually beneficial or harmful to your teeth overall.
Further studies are needed before we know for sure that red wine is beneficial to oral hygiene, but it’s definitely something to think about next time you’re looking at the wine list at dinner time.
If you’re worried about countering any possible erosion caused by drinking wine,
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