Pinot power! Drinking wine may help protect your joints from a painful, degenerative disease, suggests new research from the U.K.  

In the study, people who sipped 4 to 6 glasses of vino a week were 45 percent less likely to develop knee osteoarthritis than those who abstained from alcohol. 

But the participants who knocked back between 8 and 19, 8-ounce glasses of beer a week actually increased their risk of the disease by 76 percent. 

It doesn’t seem to be the alcohol itself that protects or plunders your joints. In fact, the study results indicated that booze consumption overall didn’t affect the odds of developing arthritis. 

Rather, it’s the specific ingredients found within certain types of alcohol that may keep your joints from aching later in life. 

Wine, for example, contains tannins, trans-resveratrol, and quercetin—antioxidants found in grapes and their skin. These chemicals may make wine especially good for decreasing inflammation and preventing blood clots, says Karen Costenbader, M.D., a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. And that’s why wine could help curb the early onset of arthritis symptoms. 

Unfortunately for beer drinkers, past studies indicate that the presence of compounds called purines in your pints can lead to a buildup of uric acid around joints, elevating your risk for developing arthritis. 

What’s more, the researchers believe that higher obesity rates in beer lovers compared to wine connoisseurs may play a role in the increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and gout. 

So if you can’t imagine life without beer, at least make sure your stomach leans more toward a six-pack than a keg. (These 10 Exercises That Burn More Calories than Running will certainly help.) 

And if you do decide to drink wine instead of beer, keep your usual intake to one serving a day.