Become a tea or coffee enthusiast with your genes: research

The study showed that caffeine was more sensitive and that people who drink large amounts of coffee drank a small amount of tea. (Source: Pixabay)

Do you have tea or coffee? According to researchers, there is a genetic predisposition to bitter taste. It may be because the bitterness serves as a natural warning system to protect us from harmful substances. A study led by researchers at Northwestern University in the United States and by the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Australia investigated responses to three bitter substances such as caffeine, quinine and propylthiouracil (PROP), suggesting that people drink tea, coffee and alcohol.

Studies have shown that people who drink more coffee and more sensitive to caffeine drink a small amount of tea. In other words, people with increased ability to feel the bitter taste of coffee, especially those with a bitter taste of caffeine, learn to "connect good things with it."

"You expect people who are particularly sensitive to the bitter taste of caffeine to drink less coffee," said Marilyn Cornelis, associate professor of preventive medicine at Pinebug Medical School. "The contrary result of our study suggests that coffee consumers can acquire a taste or ability to sense caffeine due to positive reinforcement extracted by caffeine."

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According to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports, people who are sensitive to the bitter taste of quinine and coffee have found that synthetic flavors associated with cruciferous vegetables compounds avoid coffee. In the case of alcohol, the sensitivity of PROP to bitterness increased, and alcohol consumption, especially in red wine, was reduced.

Professor Cornelis said, "Studies show that information about our genetics contributes to the preference for coffee, tea and liquor." Scientists have applied Mendelian randomisation, a commonly used technique in disease epidemiology, to test causality between the bitterness and beverage consumption of more than 40,000 men and women in the UK

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