You might want to take it easy on the coffee. A new report from the Washington Post reveals that consuming large amounts of the beverage may not bring the health benefits previously promised.
In February, the federal government's Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee released a study which claimed that high coffee consumption (3-5 cups a day) can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
It appears however, that only half the population may have access to these benefits. According to the Post, new studies have revealed the importance genetics plays in being able to reap the rewards of coffee.
"In research not cited by the advisory committee, scientists have identified at least one specific location in the genome - a single nucleotide out of roughly three billion - that determines whether a person processes caffeine quickly or slowly." Says the article.
"And in those with the gene variant for handling caffeine slowly - roughly 50 percent of people - more coffee has been linked in separate studies to a higher risk of hypertension and heart attacks."
Given the high cost of genetic testing, finding out whether you possess this gene or not may be inaccessible for some.
Sander Greenland, an emeritus epidemiology professor at UCLA, told the Post, that expecting coffee to have the same effect across a variety of different human metabolic rates was 'absurd'.
Still there are those who doubt the role genomes play in diet preferences.
"The observed gene-caffeine interactions have not been replicated in other studies and populations yet and thus these results need to be interpreted cautiously...[the] clinical implications of these results are not ready for prime time yet." Said Harvard epidemiologist Frank Hu to The Post.
It's clear that there's still a lot to be learned about coffee.
