According to an article from April 6, 2011, our genetic makeup may determine how we react to stimulants such as the caffeine that is in our coffee. The two genes being studied are called CYP1A2 and AHR. The C one has already been linked to the metabolization of caffeine. The A is known to regulate the activity of the C.
"It's really an incredible story," said study co-author Dr. Neil Caporaso, branch chief of genetic epidemiology at the National Cancer Institute. The study included colleagues from Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well. Caparoso went on to say,"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."
Some people have a “high-consumption” variation of one gene or the other, which leads them to crave more coffee.
According to the study which was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, caffeine is the most popular “psychoactive substance.” 90% of the people in the world consume some type, with 80% consuming coffee.
But wait, before we come to any large conclusions, the result of the study showed that those with these particular kinds of genes drank more caffeine: about as much as in a can of soda or a third of a cup of coffee. That’s not much, is it?
"The point here is that the way we drink caffeine is not just random," said Caporaso. "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."
He concluded that coffee is actually very safe and caffeine consumption is not a problem. The great thing about the study is that these observations actually go beyond caffeine because one of the genes we identified wasn't put there just to metabolize caffeine. It does a lot of other stuff, like metabolize compounds of cancer and also a whole long list of drugs. So now, we have some clear genetic markers that we can go and test to see how they might affect a host of metabolic processes.”
