A team from Queensland Institute of Medical Research, led by Dr Enda Byrne, says coffee is the most popular beverage in the world, but there`s a small genetic variant in population that determines how people react to coffee and explains why some will consume coffee at higher levels while others won`t.
"Our study found coffee consumption isn`t only influenced by genes, but caffeine can also affect the expression of genes. With caffeine impacting gene expression, we believe that caffeine then influences chemical pathways in the body.
"We also found a link between caffeine genes and other complex conditions, such as hypertension and Parkinson`s disease. Our study showed there were changes in the expression of genes previously linked to Parkinson`s disease after exposure to caffeine. This follows previous studies that have shown caffeine to be protective against Parkinson`s disease.
"While this finding relates directly to coffee consumption, it provides another small piece of the puzzle and could lead to further discoveries around the affect of
caffeine on a range of complex disorders," Dr Byrne said.
The researchers looked at genes across the entire human genome of over 18,000 participants.