A new genetic explanation for your caffeine cravings
If you feel
like you literally could not survive a day without coffee, you might have your
genes to thank (or blame).A new genome-wide study published in Molecular Psychiatry has
identified genetic variants that may have a lot to do with your coffee
obsession. Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and
Women’s Hospital looked at more than 120,000 coffee drinkers and found six
markers linked to responsiveness to caffeine some of which had been previously
identified as being related to smoking initiation and other types of
potentially addictive behaviors, but had never before been linked to coffee
consumption, says Marilyn Cornelis, research associate in the Department of
Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health and lead author of the study.
Caffeine is a drug a fact many of us forget
until we madly crave a double shot. “There is controversy as to whether it can
be addictive, and some of the genes that come up in the study suggest that’s
quite possible,” Cornelis says. “The stimulating effects caffeine has would
suggest that caffeine is a major driving in habitual coffee consumption at the
genetic level.”
The results might help add nuance to coffee
research, she says, which generally treats everyone as the same. It could also
help pinpoint people who’d most benefit from coffee consumption, and who should
stick to decaf. “We assume that any health effects from one cup of coffee will
be the same for everyone, but this data suggests that’s not true,” Cornelis
says.Scientists have known for a long time that genetics play a role in coffee
consumption and caffeine response, Cornelis says. “But it’s only until just
recently that we’ve actually been able to pinpoint these exact genetics. That’s
an important step forward in the research.”
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