Genetic differences that affect caffeine metabolism, as well as sugar and fat metabolism and brain chemistry, may lead some people to consume more coffee than others. In a study published yesterday (October 7) in Molecular Psychiatry, researchers used single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) information from more than 120,000 people to confirm two known variants linked with coffee drinking and identify six new loci associated with the behavior. The results could guide future investigations into the health risks and benefits of drinking coffee.
“We’ve been bombarded with studies showing good and bad findings related to coffee,” study coauthor Marilyn Cornelis, a nutrition research associate at the Harvard School of Public Health, told The Boston Globe. “But genes may account for these health differences among people [and] also lead ...
