Tequila is a distilled spirit made from the blue agave plant, and like all distilled beverages, it contains ethanol. The idea that drinking tequila can internally eliminate a viral infection is a persistent but scientifically unsupported notion. The definitive scientific answer is that consuming any alcoholic spirit, including tequila, does not kill viruses circulating within the human body.
The Disinfectant Mechanism of Alcohol
Alcohol, specifically ethanol, functions as a disinfectant by disrupting the structure of viral particles. Its mechanism of action involves protein denaturation, where the alcohol unwinds and breaks down the structural proteins of the virus. This process effectively inactivates the virus, preventing it from infecting cells.
For this denaturation to occur, the alcohol needs to be present in a specific concentration and requires water. The optimum virucidal range is between 60% and 90% alcohol by volume, often used in hand sanitizers and surface disinfectants. Standard tequila is typically bottled at 40% alcohol by volume, which is below the minimum concentration required for effective viral deactivation, even on a surface.
Ingestion and Systemic Viral Load
The moment tequila is swallowed, the alcohol begins dilution and metabolism that renders it useless against systemic viruses. Alcohol is absorbed quickly from the stomach and small intestine into the bloodstream. It distributes throughout the total body water, which accounts for about 50% to 60% of a person’s body weight. This massive dilution immediately lowers the concentration of alcohol in the blood far below the 60% threshold needed for disinfection.
The liver begins to metabolize the ethanol almost instantly, breaking down over 90% of the ingested alcohol into acetaldehyde and then harmless acetic acid. A blood alcohol concentration high enough to maintain a disinfecting level in the bloodstream would be immediately lethal to the host.
Viruses that cause illness do not float freely in the blood where a diluted concentration of alcohol might reach them. Instead, viruses invade and replicate inside the host’s cells, making them physically inaccessible to the low, transient levels of alcohol circulating in the body. Ingested alcohol cannot reach a systemic concentration necessary to neutralize a virus without causing fatal organ failure.
Alcohol’s Impact on Immune Function
Consuming spirits like tequila when ill can actively undermine the body’s natural defense mechanisms. Heavy alcohol consumption suppresses the immune system, weakening the body’s ability to fight off the infection.
This immunosuppressive effect is mediated by the alcohol’s impact on white blood cells, the primary components of the immune response. Heavy drinking can decrease the number and impair the function of lymphocytes, which target and destroy infected cells.
Alcohol also interferes with the production of signaling molecules called cytokines, which coordinate the immune response. By disrupting this cellular communication and function, alcohol consumption can prolong the duration of a viral infection or worsen its severity.