Last week, we dove head first into the USA Today "Your Life" section, and went on a fantastical journey of unsurprising discoveries! We learned some tough lessons about ostracized overweight children, had a few laughs about irritating "beautiful" people, and realized that "Your Life" really meant "Our Lives." And this week, they bring even better news: our coffee addiction isn't our fault! It's all because of our damn genes!
According to the new public health study, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, there are two specific genes which help determine whether you'll be addicted to coffee. The genes are labeled CYP1A2 and AHR-the former has been linked to the process by which caffeine is metabolized, and the latter regulates the activity of CYP1A2. And people who carry the "high-consumption" variation of either gene appear to drink more coffee.
"People don't really suspect it, but genetics plays a big role in a lot of behaviors, such as smoking and alcohol consumption. And now it turns out that it has a part in how much caffeine we drink," said study co-author Dr. Neil Caporaso, branch chief of genetic epidemiology at the National Cancer Institute. We're going to assume this means that all those with the "high-consumption" variety just can't help it if they have bigger hearts, too.
They discovered that people who carried the highest-consumption genotype of either the CYP1A2 or the AHR gene consumed an extra 40 milligrams of caffeine compared with those bearing the lowest-consumption genotype. Caporaso says the interesting part is realizing that the way we drink caffeine is not just random: "It's related to the genetic hand of cards you were dealt. And that means that now we can dissect people into fast metabolizers and slow metabolizers: people who have just one small coffee and feel well-caffeinated for a day, and people who have two large ones and then another Coke a little later in the day to get the same effect." This news really puts all of those $30 cups of cat poo coffee into perspective.
