Moderate drinking may improve coronary health, but a new study says that drinking a small amount of alcohol daily could increase the risk of bowel cancer, the Independent reported July 31.

A British study found that those who drank a pint of beer or a glass of wine daily raised their bowel-cancer risk 10 percent, while individuals who drank two pints or two glasses of wine daily faced a 25-percent higher risk. The findings were based on the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, which asked more than 480,000 Europeans about their drinking.

"The key thing is the more you drink the more your risk goes up," said Cat Arney, a spokesperson for Cancer Research UK, which helped fund the study.

The study was published in the online edition of the International Journal of Cancer.