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Check Up Genetic If You Want Some Coffee
A recent study says coffee could be good or bad for you, depending on whether or not you have a specific type of gene.
We all have a gene that breaks down caffeine in the body.
However, it's whether you have a slow or fast version of the gene that determines coffee's affect on your body, which is where a new study comes in.
Researchers recently looked into "how and if" genetics, and how they play a part when it comes to coffee and heart attacks.
They compared the genes, and coffee-drinking habits, of about 2000 people who had heart attacks, and about 2000 people who had not.
They found that about half the people had the slow version of the gene, and the rest had the fast version.
"We found in individuals who had the slow version of this gene, as little as two cups of coffee a day is associated with an increased risk of heart disease. Now for those who had the fast version of the gene, there was no increased risk, even with four or more cups a day," explains Ph.D., of the University of Toronto.
Surprisingly, what researchers found was that in individuals under 50 years of age who were fast metabolizers, had the fast version of this gene, consumption of as little as one to three cups a day was associated with a lower risk of heart disease.
There is not yet a commercial test to determine which version of the gene you have.
Experts' say you cannot tell simply by the way caffeine makes you feel.
So, doctors say you should drink no more than four cups of coffee per day.
Coffee can either raise or lower the risk of a heart attack, depending on the drinker's genetics.
Research on more than four-thousand people in Costa Rica found about half had a genetic trait that makes caffeine lurk in their bodies longer. The other half had the opposite trait, and quickly break down or metabolize caffeine.
The study found slow caffeine metabolizers who had two or more cups a day were at least 36 percent more likely to have a nonfatal heart attack than those who had little or no coffee. The risk was even higher among people under 50 with the genes.
Researchers found coffee seemed to cut the heart attack risk for fast metabolizers.
A study co-author says the genetic discovery may help explain why previous studies have had such mixed results. This metabolism findings show that one size does not fit all.
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