Although doctors do not generally encourage the drinking of alcohol due to the problems that can come with this i.e. heart disease, obesity, liver damage, alcoholism, etc, wine and beer have been around for thousands of years and research in recent years suggests that drinking a glass or two per day of either can bring substantial health benefits.

Red wine has long since been known for its healthy heart benefits as it's believed that moderate, regular consumption may prevent coronary heart disease.

Sales of red wine soared in the United States in the early 1990s after a program aired on the television show '60 Minutes'. It was reported that, despite the fact that the French generally had a diet higher in fat, they had much better heart health than the Americans and it was thought that this was due to the fact that the French accompany their meals with a couple of glasses of red wine.

It is believed that red wine helps reduce the production of LDL (bad cholesterol) and boosts that of HDL (good cholesterol). It also produces an anti-clotting action and therefore prevents the formation of blood clots and perhaps also hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). This hardening or furring of the arteries occurs when blood vessels lose their ability to relax and both the polyphenols and alcohol contained within the wine promote nitric oxide, which chemically relaxes the arteries.

Recent research into Alzheimer's disease also found that those same polyphenols have neurological protective properties and that moderate consumption of red wine reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer's.

Although excessive use of alcohol is thought to be a high risk factor for high blood pressure, it is believed that drinking two glasses of red wine with a meal can help reduce blood pressure in those suffering from hypertension.

Furthermore, red wine is thought to prevent the formation of kidney stones.

And good news for beer drinkers... beer can also offer health benefits if drank in moderation. It wasn't until recently that, while looking at ways to reduce cholesterol, I discovered some interesting facts about beer that I wasn't aware of:

Like red wine, beer has also been around for thousands of years and over the centuries has actually been regarded as a health drink, fed to both adults and children - not that I would ever recommend giving alcohol to children! However, during ancient times and throughout the middle ages, the fact that the water was boiled and the grains fermented actually made the beer a far healthier drink than water.

The Egyptians served beer to those building the pyramids and indeed, sometimes the workers were paid in beer. The Egyptians also gave a drink of beer to their dead to send them on their way to the next life.

The pioneers coming over to the United States on the Mayflower also relied on beer as their staple drink. In fact, it is said that they planned on sailing further south but their landing in Massachusetts was mainly due to the fact that they were running out of beer. Many of the founding fathers of this country were also brewers.

According to recent research, yes, beer can provide the same health benefits as wine. It contains the same amount of polyphenols as red wine and therefore drinking it in moderation can also help reduce blood clots and bad cholesterol, reducing your chances of suffering from stroke or suffering from heart attack or vascular disease.

In addition, beer also contains vitamin B6 - something that neither wine nor any other liquor contains - which helps to repair cells, as well as helping to prevent heart and vascular disease.

So, having a regular glass or two of wine or beer not only has many health benefits perhaps not enjoyed by the abstainers, but will also help you to feel less stressed and be able to sleep better.

However, should you decide to have more than the recommended two, then all your good work will have been in vain and all the benefits your body would have otherwise experienced will now go into reverse.

Alcohol flows through the bloodstream and is broken down by the liver. Any more than one or two drinks will result in too much alcohol in the bloodstream, which cannot be processed at once by the liver. Instead it is stored in various other parts of the body including the brain cells, which is why you begin to feel drunk. While doing this once in a while may not have any adverse effects, continuous, excessive use of alcohol could eventually lead to damage of body cells and organs. This can result in various health problems including high cholesterol, raised blood pressure, stroke, heart problems, kidney damage, liver damage, sleep problems, depression, stomach problems, damage to brain cells and even cancer.

So, next time you decide to have a wine or a beer, enjoy that one or two, but then stop, relax and sleep easy knowing that you have indeed drank to your good health.