Why do we crave coffee?

Specific gene variants inherited from parents affect how much coffee a person can consume - Photo: iStock

Research also reveals complex relationships between coffee consumption, certain health conditions, and the environment.

Coffee drinking preferences are inherited.

Researchers from the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and the University of California San Diego (UCSD) used genetic data as well as self-reported coffee consumption to assemble a genome-wide association study (GWAS).

These types of studies use large amounts of genetic data to help researchers identify genetic, genomic, and biological variations associated with a particular disease or certain health traits.

Researchers compared genetic traits about coffee consumption from the 23andMe database in the United States with an even larger record in the United Kingdom.

“We used this data to identify regions of the genome associated with whether someone is likely to consume more or less coffee, and then identified genes and biology that may underlie coffee drinking,” said Hayley Thorpe, lead researcher and postdoctoral fellow at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.

Results suggest genetic influence on coffee consumption.

In other words, specific gene variants inherited from parents influence how much coffee a person can consume.

The study was published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology .

Differences in results between UK and US

But the results around the health effects of a cup of coffee are less conclusive. The team’s genome-wide association study of 130,153 participants in the 23andMe study in the US was compared to the similar UK Biobank database of 334,649 residents in the UK.

Comparisons showed consistent positive genetic associations between coffee and adverse health outcomes such as obesity and stimulant use in both groups.

This doesn't mean that coffee drinkers will use other substances or develop obesity, but rather that a genetic predisposition to coffee drinking is somehow linked to these traits, Thorpe says.

The findings get more complicated when looking at psychiatric conditions. “For example, look at the genetics of anxiety, or bipolar and depression. In the 23andMe dataset, they tend to have a positive genetic correlation with the genetics of coffee consumption. But in the UK Biobank, you see the opposite pattern, where they have a negative genetic correlation. That’s not what we expected,” Thorpe says.

The researchers noted other differences between the groups. “We found positive genetic associations between coffee consumption measured in the 23andMe data and psychiatric disorders, but these associations tended to be negative when examined in the UK Biobank,” Thorpe said.

These differences could be for a variety of reasons, such as differences in the choice of tea and coffee consumption between Americans and British people."

According to Thorpe, while the study adds to existing literature and helps to better understand how coffee can impact an individual's health, more work needs to be done to understand the relationship between coffee, other substance use, and health problems in specific settings.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tai-sao-chung-ta-them-ca-phe-20240622182130435.htm