New study reveals a glass of wine or beer a day makes you live longer

This is one study we'll toast to!

Obviously heavy drinking can lead to disease and early death.

But, believe it or not, light-to-moderate alcohol consumption has "protective" health effects and may prevent early death.

According to a new study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, men who have one or two drinks a day and women who have one drink a day, have a 29 percent decreased risk of heart-related death and a 22 percent reduced risk of death from any cause.

The results are based on an analysis of more than 300,000 volunteers whose alcohol consumption and health records were followed over a 12 year period.

The research also found heavy drinkers are 27 percent more likely to die from cancer, and 11 percent more likely to die early overall.

Furthermore, people who binge drank (having five or more drinks in one day) at least once a week were also at increased risk of dying, especially from cancer.

Study author Doctor Bo Xi said: "Our research shows that light-to-moderate drinking might have some protective effects against cardiovascular disease, while heavy drinking can lead to death.

"A delicate balance exists between the beneficial and detrimental effects of alcohol consumption, which should be stressed to consumers and patients."

Cheers to that!