New link between your genes and coffee beans

Scientists have known for quite some time that coffee affects different people in different ways. A recent study in Molecular Psychiatry brings us closer than ever to knowing why that is. Researchers analysed the entire DNA sequence of 120,000 coffee drinkers of European and African-American ancestry and found at least eight locations on our genes that are linked with coffee drinking, six of which have never been linked to coffee before. While there are numerous other compounds in coffee that have biological effects, the study further boosts the idea that it’s the caffeine that motivates regular coffee consumption. The study could explain why one java drinker will be wired all day after a single cup, and another is able to have an espresso just before bedtime and fall fast asleep.

If you feel like you constantly crave caffeine and can’t function without your six cups per day, blame it on your genes.

We were already aware of at least two genes that determined how individuals metabolised coffee. Everyone has both these genes, but we all don’t have the exact same copy.

The researcher also discovered two genes that had never been linked to caffeine before. These genes are involved in sugar and fat metabolism. So far it’s unclear how caffeine affects them, but it’s suspected that it involves the glucose-sensing ability of the brain and may affect how the brain responds to caffeine.

In their conclusion, the researchers state: “Our results support the hypothesis that metabolic and neurological mechanisms of caffeine contribute to coffee consumption habits.”.
​-In.askmen.com