Like a lot of people, I love a cheeky bev. However, it seems like we are being constantly reminded in the media about just how dangerous alcohol misuse can be.
And while that is true, a new study has shown that drinking beer every day can actually vastly increase your chances of reaching 90 years old.
Conducted by experts at Maastricht University in The Netherlands, the results found that men who drink half a pint of beer every day are 81% more likely than to reach a tenth decade of life than teetotallers.
In addition, women who drink comparable amounts also increased their chances of reaching their 90th birthday by a third.
The results came after lead researcher Prof. Dr. Piet van den Brandt and his team tracked the drinking habits of 5,500 people - most of whom were born during World War 1 - over the course of two decades.
Per The Sun, Prof Dr Piet van den Brandt said: "Our analyses show significantly positive associations between alcohol and longevity in men and women."
Brandt and his team's theory stated that drinking in moderation is actually good for your heart. But they did add that drinking too much is toxic. The Daily Mail states that the findings found that the age-extending effects were limited to those who stuck to one drink a day, and that binge drinkers died earlier.
That being said, the results found that men who consumed three nips of whiskey or two pints of beer daily - which is double the maximum recommended amount on the NHS - are two-thirds more likely to reach 90 when compared to abstainers.
Of course, if you are teetotal or straightedge, these findings are not an excuse to start drinking, as the team added: "The results should not be used as motivation to start drinking."
This advice was echoed by Sir Ian Gilmore from Alcohol Health Alliance UK, who said: "There is no evidence to suggest non-drinkers should start for the good of their health."
All of this may sound like good news, but Prof Dame Sally Davies, the former Chief Medical Officer for England and Chief Medical Adviser to the UK government, has said that consuming even one pint of beer a week increases the risk of cancer.
The UK's NHS guidelines recommend consuming no more than 14 units of alcohol per week - which is roughly six pints of beer or six standard glasses of wine.
