Preference for Black Coffee and Dark Chocolate has Been Linked to Genetics

   An article from U.S. News talks about how scientists have discovered that people who like black coffee likely inherited this preference from someone in their family. Scientists found that black coffee drinkers' have a genetic variation that allow them to metabolize caffeine much faster than a regular person. Because they metabolize caffeine faster, the stimulating effect that caffeine has wears off much faster as well, and this results in them drinking more or stronger coffee. Scientists believe that these people begin to association the bitter taste of coffee with mental alertness and the stimulation caffeine gives them, and they tend to have a preference for other bitter foods like dark chocolate.

    As someone who does not particularly like coffee or drink it, I find this very interesting especially since I could never understand why some people find black coffee so appealing. It is amazing to learn that a genetic variation that changes the way someone metabolizes caffeine can create this learned behavior and preference for bitter tasting foods.

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Your Preference For Black Coffee Could Be Due To This, Finds Study - The Fresh Toast

Your genetic code can drive your desire for coffee

For the first time, a study from researchers at the University of South Australia was conducted to understand the correlation between cardiac health and its influence on coffee consumption. This study included 390,435 people and partnered with SAHMRI. While some of us drink coffee as a normal pick-me-up, or because it tastes good, coffee has significant effects on our cardio health. Another article talks about coffee and its effects on cardiac health. 

This study concluded, people with high blood pressure, aka angina, were more likely to consume less coffee or avoid coffee. This conclusion was drawn entirely from genetics. Interestingly, this is a positive effect since genetics can regulate our coffee consumption based on our health conditions. This is an example of how genetics have protective mechanisms built in, which directly influences behavior as well. Future studies will be interesting to identify different protective mechanisms in our genetics like the one discussed in this study. 

How Do You Feel After You Drink Coffee?

Coffee has never given me a boost in my day like it does to everyone else I know that drinks coffee. I've had coffee with multiple expresso shots, energy drinks, and even a couple a day and I have yet to feel the rush caffeine gives to so many people. An article titled "Why Caffeine Affects People More Than Others" explains that after a person drinks coffee, the caffeine enters their blood stream and connects to an adenosine receptor in their brain and depending on their genetics the receptor may or may not be sticky enough to hold on to the caffeine. Based on that idea my receptors are not sticky what so ever. NorthWestern Feinberg School of Medicine assistant professor, Marilyn Cornelis, adds to this research with the finding that those with low caffeine metabolites cause faster caffeine metabolism which is another way that caffeine may not be affecting a person's body as much as the next. I thought both of these articles were super helpful since I've always wondered why coffee or any kind of energy drink just never gave me that extra pop like everyone else no matter the amount of consumption. 

The genes of a coffee drinker

A NatGeo article explains how genes might have a lot more to do on how caffeine affects your body than you think. Most people consume caffeine in one form or another, sometimes without even knowing their foods or drinks contain it. The most conscious about caffeine consumption are those who are affected negatively by it. It is impressive how some people can manage to have a cup of coffee every hour of the day and be just fine, while others will not be able to sleep all night just by looking at them drink it (figuratively speaking). The reason for this lies in the way we metabolize certain substances, which comes from our genes. 
CYP1A2 codes for an enzyme that canalizes metabolism of certain drugs including caffeine, AHR determines how much of that enzyme is produced. These two genes work hand in hand to regulate the caffeine in your bloodstream, determine how much and for how long it will stay there. If your parents passed the "fast" metabolism genes down to you, then caffeine might not be in your body long enough to stimulate the brain in a drastic way, whereas people with slow metabolism or low amount of the caffeine metabolic enzyme will have the effects for longer.
There are some who do not drink coffee just because they do not like the taste. Well, this is also due to the activity of genes involved in taste perception that allow us to taste the bitterness of substances. People who have the more active genes, are able to taste better the bitterness of caffeine and more likely to enjoy a cup of coffee, while people with less active genes do not perceive intensity of bitter tastes and will prefer a cup of tea instead. 

Caffeine for Athletes

            Caffeine is a part of most people’s daily routine. A new study came out on the genetics of caffeine metabolism that proved that some athletes have a particular variant of one gene that shows improvements in their endurance performance after drinking caffeine. There are some athletes who show the opposite effect after drinking caffeine, they perform worse. Different people respond differently to caffeine which is a known side effect. Some people may get very antsy or have trouble sleeping 12 hours after a single cup of coffee, while others can increase their alertness and sleep just fine with the same cup. This range of reactions also occurs in athletes and effects their ability to perform. Some athletes were faster or stronger after a moderate dose of athletes while others performed the same, and others performed worse. 

A professor of nutritional science in Canada who studies how genes influence the body’s reaction to food and diet was interesting in this topic. By the time he was interested, other geneticists already discovered that one specific form of one gene affects how people digest and metabolize caffeine. There are different variants of this gene that give you different reactions: a quick metabolism of coffee making you hyper or jittering for a short period of time and then feeling regular shortly, a moderate metabolism that makes you just digest coffee regularly with a prolonged greater alertness and no crash, and a slow metabolism. The Canadian professor studied the effect on athletes specifically and found that they had the same reaction; he concluded that athletes should get a genetic testing to see what kind of caffeine metabolizer they are before blindly trying to increase their athletic abilities. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/well/move/can-coffee-rev-up-your-workout-it-may-depend-on-your-genes.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29509641

Java Genes

Have you ever wondered how some people could make it through a whole day running on one cup of coffee while others could drink a gallon and still need a nap?  Well I have since I'm one of those people who probably consume a typically dangerous amount of caffeine on a daily basis, and it turns out that it is actually linked to your genes.  Researchers have found several variations of a gene that controls caffeine metabolism.  Some people carry a variation where they metabolize caffeine more slowly than others who have a different variant.  The slower your body metabolizes it, the less the person feels the need to drink it, while the faster a person's metabolism is, the more caffeine they can tolerate at a time.  This is why some people feel jittery or anxious after one cup as opposed to others who just feel more happy and energized.  In addition to a link to caffeine metabolism, scientists also noted that those same genes also coded for how the body metabolizes other drugs in the body, like nicotine.  This finding in the study could be very important to the future of medicine if they can link these genes controlling metabolism of other drugs as well, which could hopefully lead to new, more precise treatments of numerous diseases.

Coffee Consumption Linked to Variant Form of Gene

Researchers in Scotland have recently published results in Scientific Reports based on an experiment meant to observe the amount of coffee people drink daily, while looking at whether or not they have a certain variation of the gene PDSS2. PDSS2 has been linked to the breakdown of caffeine in the body, and a certain variation may cause the caffeine to break down more slowly which in turn allows a longer presence in the body, and ultimately less coffee consumption. The study was carried out in Italy and the Netherlands and people were surveyed based on the amount of coffee that they drank per day. Out of the 1000 people surveyed in Italy, it was discovered that the people who had the specific variation in the PDSS2 gene drank on average 1 less cup of coffee per day since the caffeine lasted longer in their systems. Out of the 1700 people surveyed in the Netherlands, the results were less significant but the findings were still that those with the variation drank slightly less coffee on average per day.

The scientists hypothesized that the PDSS2 gene may work by blocking the expression of the certain enzymes that are meant to break down caffeine. By affecting this process, the caffeine is able to stay in the system longer, creating less of a desire and need to drink more coffee in order to feel its effects. Although the scientists admit that more research needs to be done on the topic, this study provides a good foundation to understanding how certain genes may work. If we are able to study genes and their variations in this way, we will be more prepared on how to fix certain medical issues when they arise because it all starts at the basic level of what is in our DNA. Millions of people worldwide claim that they are "addicted" to coffee, but what if it has something to do with, and can be manipulated through, genetics and heredity? This topic is very important to our understanding of variations of genes and through further research may yield some very interesting results.

Link: http://www.livescience.com/55880-coffee-consumption-dna-genes.html

A Gene Affecting the Breakdown of Caffeine

Scientists identified a gene that affects the breakdown of caffeine in the human body. The caffeine in coffee acts as a mild stimulant to the central nervous system. Studies have shown that, depending on the level of intake, caffeine can help to improve mental performance, especially on alertness, attention and concentration. Moderate coffee consumption may actually be good for you. It may reduce chronic disease. So, why is there so much contradictory evidence about coffee? The answer may be in our genes. The amount of coffee consumption affects human beings in different ways. Some people try to stay away from drinking coffee because it makes them nervous and anxious. Others can drink four cups of coffee and can barely stay awake. There are also individuals who live off of coffee. Professor Ahmed- El-Sohemy, from the University of Toronto assumed coffee and heart disease may vary from each individual. He concentrated on a particular gene known as CYP1A2 which controls the activity of an enzyme also called CYP1A2, which determines how fast our bodies break down caffeine. There are two variations of the CYP1A2 gene where one allows people to break down caffeine four times faster than individuals with the slower variant of the CYP1A2 gene.

Dr. El-Sohemy did a research test on 4,000 adults analyzing their genes and their coffee consumption. He discovered that consuming four or more cups of coffee per day was associated with a thirty-six percent increased risk of a heart attack for slow metabolizers. Compared to the fast metabolizers, there was completely no increased risk. The individuals who were fast metabolizers that drank one to three cups of coffee daily had a reduced risk of heart attacks. This may be because caffeine stays around longer in a slow metabolizer, so it has more time to cause heart attacks. Fast metabolizers are constantly clearing the caffeine from their systems.

This was so interesting to me. Researchers have just started to understand how our genes and coffee habits relate. The connection between coffee and genetics has opened up a wide new area of research, which is great. Scientists are now researching if the CYP1A2 gene might resolve coffee’s effect on breast and ovarian cancer, Type 2 diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. A company called FitnessGenes studies forty-one different genes related to nutrition and exercise including the gene CYP1A2. It is said that forty percent of people are fast metabolizers, about forty-five percent have both a slow and a fast copy, and fifteen percent of people are slow metabolizers. Do you think you are a fast metabolizer, slow metabolizer or have both the slow and fast copy?

Scientists Link Coffee Drinking to Our Genetic Makeup

A gene was recently identified by scientists that is believed to change the way the human body digests caffeine. In Italy, villagers who possessed the PDSS2 gene drank roughly one cup less of coffee a day when compared to villagers who lacked the PDSS2 gene. Scientists believe that the gene variant PDSS2 reduces the time is takes to metabolize coffee within the body. This means that the stimulant effect on the body is longer lasting, as it is broken down at a slower rate than one observed in a person who does not carry the PDSS2 gene. This new discovery bolsters the belief that coffee drinkers drink the beverage for the caffeine, and the stimulant effect it produces. Although more studies need to be done to confirm the link between the PDSS2 gene and its effect on consuming caffeine from coffee, this is a major breakthrough.

Previous research on this topic has shown that there are a lot of variables that have prevented scientists from establishing a legitimate link between the human metabolism and the effect that caffeine may have on it. It is already known that coffee has a number of medical benefits for individuals suffering from Parkinson’s disease, some cancers and cardiovascular diseases.There could also be a potential link between what prompts people with these types of diseases to consume coffee.

I found this association between coffee and genetics particularly interesting because coffee is a widely consumed beverage across the globe. Throughout the course of my life I have observed that many people I speak to have a strong love or distaste for coffee. After delving into this topic, it’s interesting to find out that some people process it differently. This leads me to wonder if people who enjoy coffee experience its effects differently as a result of their genetic makeup. Eventually, there may be an assessment used to determine whether or not you have the PDSS2 gene. It would be fascinating if scientists could accurately pinpoint the amount of coffee each person needed to drink to stay alert throughout the day.

Coffee and Cancer

A large study from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute suggests that "regular consumption of caffeinated coffee may help prevent the return of colon cancer after treatment and improve the chances of a cure." (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute)  Studies suggest that 2-3 cups of coffee is the recommended amount.  One cup a day has shown little to no effect on patients.

Further research needs to be conducted in order to solidify the results but caffeinated coffee has also shown lowered risk in certain cancers and type 2 diabetes. The other components in coffee have no effect on the results; it is strictly the caffeine that shows improvement. "One hypothesis is that caffeine consumption increases the body's sensitivity to insulin so less of it is needed, which in turn may help reduce inflammation -- a risk factor for diabetes and cancer, Fuchs said." (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute)

I found this article to be incredibly interesting.  I'm curious to see if the results will continue to have positive effects on patients and if consuming caffeine before diagnosis will limit the possibility and percentages of colon cancer patients, or any cancer or disease, in the future.

To see the full article click here! It's worth the read!

Coffee Help Preventing Parkinson's

Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's are less common for those who drink a lot of coffee. Since illnesses like Parkinson's are intertwined with both genetics and environmental factors, the habit of having coffee is encouraged for prevention. A research team has identified in a study of a million genetic malformations that a variant of GRIN2A protects against Parkinson's. The corresponding protecting play a huge role in many neurodegenerative diseases.

A dopamine receptor that manages the amount of calcium enters a cell is combined with caffeine. As a part of the reward system, dopamine involved with caffeine has been thought to not reward individuals with certain genetic variations the same. GRIN2A has recently shown a recent connection to such a genetic predisposition.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140710081304.htm
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