Study links genetics to coffee consumption.
- Researchers have found that particular genetic variants inherited from parents influence how much coffee one is likely to consume.
- This genetic predisposition to coffee consumption is linked “in one way or another” to obesity and substance use.
- In some participants, it is also associated with pain, gastrointestinal disorders and psychiatric illnesses.
A few minutes after getting out of bed, many people rush to make themselves a cup of coffee. This is a common phenomenon around the world, as coffee is one of the most consumed beverages. What if this desire to drink coffee first thing in the morning was influenced by genetics? This is what an international team of researchers has suggested in a study, the results of which were published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
Genetic variants inherited from parents influence the amount of coffee consumed
For the research, the team used genetic data from 130,153 American adults to conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of hundreds of biomarkers, health traits and lifestyle factors. They then combined them with self-reported information on coffee consumption from a 23andMe database in the United States. “This allows us to identify regions of the genome associated with whether a person is more or less likely to consume coffee, and then to identify the genes and biology that might underlie coffee consumption.”said Hayley Thorpe, lead author of the work and a researcher at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. Then the data was compared to a similar database from the UK Biobank, made up of 334,649 UK residents.
The results showed a genetic influence on coffee consumption. In short, particular genetic variants inherited from parents influence how much coffee one is likely to consume. Other genetic correlations were observed, including positive genetic associations between coffee and adverse health outcomes, such as obesity and substance use, in both populations. “This does not mean that a person who drinks coffee will consume other substances or develop obesity, but rather that the genetic predisposition to coffee consumption is somehow linked to these traits,” specified Hayley Thorpe.
Genetic predisposition to coffee consumption is associated with psychiatric illnesses
Other traits associated with coffee consumption include pain, gastrointestinal disorders, and psychiatric illness. “For anxiety, bipolarity and depression, in the 23andMe dataset, they tend to be positively genetically correlated with the genetics of coffee consumption. However, in the UK Biobank, we see the opposite pattern, that is, a negative genetic correlation. This is not what we expected.”
While this research adds to the existing literature and helps to better understand how coffee may impact an individual’s health, more work is needed to understand the link between coffee, other substance use, and health issues in unique environments.
