Scientists have found consistent positive genetic correlations of coffee intake with substance use and obesity in US and UK adults of European ancestry. The study is published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology . Coffee is one of the most popular beverages worldwide, with 60-85% of European and US adults consuming 0.
6 – 5.5 cups of coffee daily. Caffeine is the major psychoactive compound in coffee.
Bioactive compounds present in coffee are known to increase cognitive function and reduce the risk of several health complications, including liver disease, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. Excessive coffee intake, in contrast, has been found to increase the risks of other substance use and misuse, abnormal lipid profile, pregnancy loss, gastrointestinal complications, and cardiovascular impairment. Previous genetic studies have found that coffee intake is 36-56% heritable, indicating that coffee intake is amenable to genetic analysis.
Several genome-wide association studies of coffee intake have found associations with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within or near genes that metabolize caffeine. In this study, scientists have performed a genome-wide association study of coffee intake in 10,156 US participants of European ancestry. They have used genetic correlations and phenome- and laboratory-wide association studies to explore the relationships of coffee intake with multiple biomarkers, health characteristic.