We often say that coffee is an acquired taste, one of those foods whose taste we dislike at first but to which we get used to it with relative ease. Rather than getting used to it, we often come to consider it pleasant. Perhaps this story of the transition from hate to love is a little more complex.
Because of genetics.
In our genes. A new study has found that the ability to develop a taste for coffee depends, at least to some extent, on our genes. The coffee taste buds are, according to the results of the study, a hereditary trait.
The analysis was based on the technique known as genome-wide association study or GWAS (genome-wide association study). The team sought to understand the connections between genes known to be associated with coffee consumption and certain “traits or conditions” linked to health.
“We used data to identify regions of the genome associated with whether someone was more or less likely to drink coffee,” Hayley Thorpe, who co-led the newly presented work, said in a press release. “We then identified the genes and biology that might underlie coffee drinking.”
GWAS. Genome-wide association studies are based on the analysis of the entire genome of participants in order to identify gene variants associated with a specific trait. They usually focus on single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs. These are genetic variations that affect a single nucleotide, i.e. one of the “steps” of DNA.
The study used information from two databases, one American, 23andMewith 130,153 participants; and a British one, UK Biobankwith 334,649 additional volunteers. Both databases combined genetic information with information compiled by questionnaire, which included data on participants’ coffee consumption.
The details of the work were published in an article in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
Good or bad. Finding out whether genetics influenced our preference for this drink was only 50% of the team’s objectives. The other key question of the study was how genetics influenced the impact that coffee has on our health. A question we have asked ourselves on numerous occasions.
The problem here was that the answer was not so clear, the team lamented. The study found connections between some genetic variants, coffee and health-related problems such as obesity and addiction. However, the results were confusing when analysing other issues, especially those related to mental health. In these cases, the team observed that the results varied depending on the database used.
“Look at the genetics of anxiety, for example, or bipolar disorder and depression: in the database 23andMeare positively correlated with the genetics of coffee drinkers,” Thorpe explained. “But then, in UK Biobankyou see the opposite pattern, where they are negatively correlated. This is not what we expected.”
Different questions, different coffees. The team also speculated about possible reasons behind this difference between the databases. One possibility is that it was in the surveys. Although both asked participants about their coffee consumption levels, they did so through slightly different questions. This could be introducing some bias into the study.
The second possibility was the way the coffee was prepared. Additives such as sugar can affect how we feel about coffee. These additives are not taken into account in surveys, which can skew the results of the study as it is a variable correlated with health.
A third issue raised by the team is how external conditions can affect us beyond the genetics we inherit. Two people with similar genotypes, they explain, can end up developing very different phenotypes when living in distant contexts such as the United Kingdom and the United States.
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