Does boiling vinegar kill bacteria?
 

So my mom has it in her head that boiling vinegar will kill the airborne bacteria we breathe. Especially when a family member is sick. I won't deny that the smell of vinegar will unplug a stuffed nose because it works for me every time. (somewhat like eating wasabi) But does anyone know if this is a proven fact?

not proven but my family does it too when someone in the house is sick. sort of makes it harder for others to get sick.

Acidic air? Perhaps?

Edit: Google'd it

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...4165819AAgwypA

lots of these asian traditional pearls of wisdom have no root in reality.

my family's never done it. we stick to tylenol :p

western families will always depend on modern chemicals that will eventually kill everyone

When I'm sick, I like to fart in open spaces.

My mom told me that helps expel the bad things in my body.

i would imagine it to smell really bad in the house with the vinegar ..and the farting.

that's some cracked out shit lol

^LOL
hahahhahahahahhahaha

ive never even heard of the vinegar thing though

my mom used to boil vinegar and put cloves of garlic in there i don't know if it actually works though

dang that must make your house reek. no offense

When I have a stuffy nose, I break out the Remy Martin... Heat it up on boiling water... mmmm.....

lol must be awesome remy at a lower alcohol %

lol.. i prefer the (hot) coke, lemon slices, ginger.... that shits the bomb XD

Some of these Chinese traditions are so ridiculously stupid, that I wonder if someone made them up as a prank, and they just stuck around after years of ignorance.

No, boiling vinegar won't kill bacteria. Unless you boil the bacteria in the vinegar.

And there is no such thing as "airborne bacteria". The bacteria you "breathe" is riding on airborne particles (the mucous and crap that comes out of your face when you cough and sneeze).

Good luck convincing your mom though. Just dump out all the vinegar in the house next time she does that.

I know this topic pisses you off SkinnyPupp but how many of these Chinese traditions do you see around you in HK?

i would assume a lot since i have many relatives in hk and well if my mom does it, my mom's siblings would too if they learned it from my grandparents

Yeah I constantly observe silly traditions. I only get really pissed off when the person should know better though. If you're an old granny that grew up in HK, fine, you might think that drinking hot water will "melt" fat so your body doesn't absorb it. But if you know even a little bit about how life works, and you believe that.. Then that's just plain ignorance.

I also don't like it when tradition affects me personally, like the people who think that they need to use mothballs. Every winter people pull their jackets out of storage, and the stink is almost unbearable. But there are no cloth-eating months in Hong Kong, so they are stinking (and poisoning) themselves for no reason.

one old wise tale i did research on and was proven true.

they say you are not allow to eat crab and Persimmon fruit as it will harm you. ok the old tail says u can die, but u cant die, it just will harm you. turns out some of the enzymes or something conflict with the proteins found in crab meat. you'll get a nasty stomach ache.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persimmon

but yeah, some old wise tales i cant prove, most make absolutely no sense. but some, such as "hot air", i have no idea what that is in english, but i know i get it when i eat way too much fried foods and spicy foods =/

why do it only when your sick? i do this on a daily basis

i don't know....at the physio clinic that i work at, they use diluted vinegar as disinfectant to wipe off beds after used

well technically i thot an acidic environment will cause bacteria to not multiply

but then boiling it and evaporating it i highly doubt does ANYTHING since the concentration is so low.

yeah these are silly, but how many of us believed that not wearing a jacket when it's windy or cooler would make us sick?

how many people still believe that even til this day?