It's the sort of health news most would toast with a cheeky tipple – but it may have health fanatics choking on their carrot juice.

Drinking a couple of glasses of wine or beer a night – while adding a few extra pounds in weight – could be the secret to living into your 90s, a major study finds today.

The research, which looked at those who had lived beyond 90, identified modest alcohol consumption as one of five key factors linked to a long life.

It found that those who had around two glasses of beer or wine every day had an 18 per cent reduced risk of premature death compared to those who were teetotal.

Meanwhile, being slightly overweight – but not obese – also appeared to reduce the risk of early death, although only by around 3 per cent.

Professor Claudia Kawas, of the University of California, tracked data on around 1,700 people who were in their nineties in 2003 – called the '90+ study'.