Research has proven that one to two glasses of wine a day is healthy for the body. However, what about the most common of spirits - the beer? Beer has often been painted to be bad for the health, but recent study suggests otherwise.

According to the study done by the Research Laboratories at the Fondazione di Ricerca e Cura "Giovannia Paolo II," in Campobasso, Italy, drinking beer moderately has the same positive effects that wine has to the cardiovascular health.

Drinking wine moderately - two glasses for men and one glass for women - can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 31% less when compared to those who do not drink. Findings of the study show, for the first time, that drinking slightly more than an English pint a day of beer containing 5% of alcohol has the same protective benefit as wine.

Studying wine and beer separately, Simona Costanzo, first author of the paper, said that they have observed a reduction in cardiovascular risk with low to moderate drinking. However, with increased consumption, the protective advantage disappears up until the risk gets higher.

With these findings of beer being good for fending off the risk of cardiovascular disease, Augusto Di Castelnuovo, the head of the Statistic Unit of Research Laboratories and a pioneer in alcohol epidemiological studies, emphasized moderate and regular drinking, and that there is no place for binge drinking or any other form of heavy consumption.

Di Caselnuovo also cautioned that their data cannot be extrapolated to everybody. Citing women in their fertile age, alcohol can actually slightly raise their risk for some type of cancer, which can counterbalance the positive effect on cardiovascular disease.

The researchers admitted though, that the similarity between wine and beer and their positive effects on cardiovascular health is still unknown. What the researchers are inferring are, since wine and beer are different in composition, all except for alcohol, alcohol could be the key player.

Beer has been the subject of many studies before and since then, many benefits have been found just by drinking the humble spirit moderately. According to HealthMad.com, drinking beer moderately has positive benefits such as:

1. Raising the level of anti-oxidants in the blood stream

2. Source of vitamin B6 which is needed to make hemoglobin, the red coloring in blood

3. Aids in sleep and promotes relaxation

4. Can help reduce blood pressure and levels of insulin in the blood

5. Can reduce the incidence of kidney stones

6. Contains flavanoids which are natural oxidants that help the body protect against diseases