研究:愛喝咖啡竟是體內遺傳基因所致

Those who drink more coffee are more likely to have a gene that helps their livers break it down If you struggle to get through the day without a constant supply of coffee or tea, it may be down to more than just personal taste. Research shows some of us inherit genes which make us more reliant on caffeine. Those with the ‘caffeine addict’ genes need to drink more coffee or tea to get the same buzz.

咖啡在一定程度上作爲一種“文化符號”融進了我們日常的生活中，很多需要玩命工作的白領們甚至到了“沒有咖啡不能活”的地步，每天至少一杯咖啡提神成爲我們生活中很重要的一個部分。有研究分析，喜愛飲用咖啡並非後天培養而成，喜愛咖啡是“天生的”，是體內的基因在作怪。科學家稱，如果你想要強迫自己“戒咖啡”度過一天時間，並非是控制自己的意志力就能行得通的，您體內的“咖啡基因”讓您無法將咖啡從您的腦海中抹去。

This could also help to explain why chocolate is more irresistible to some than others. The intriguing finding comes from a U.S. study scrutinising the DNA and diets of 45,000 people, one of the first to examine links between foods and genes. This flagged up two genes associated with the high intake of tea, coffee, chocolate and caffeinated soft drinks such as colas. One – CYP1A2 – is key to the breakdown of caffeine in the liver. The other, called AHR, regulates the first.

專家們在解釋“咖啡基因”時套用了“巧克力基因”的道理，他們分析，人們不能抵禦咖啡的魔力也如同人們不能抵禦巧克力的魔力一樣。這一項有趣的美國研究報告上首次證實了人體的DNA與食品之間的關係，通過對4萬多名志願者進行調查，專家們逐漸建立起“食品”和“基因”之間的關係。研究中，除了咖啡有基因影響以外，還有茶葉、巧克力以及可口可樂等飲料等等。專家發現，人體內的代謝性激活--CYP1A2是一個重要的讓人對咖啡“無法自拔”的重要原因。

（圖片來源於網絡）

Researcher Neil Caporaso said: ‘It’s been known for decades that this CYP1A2 gene is what metabolized caffeine. ‘But using new technology, what we showed for the first time is that it appears responsible for the inherited differences in how people drink coffee. ‘The point is that the way we drink caffeine is not just random – it’s related to the genetic hand of cards you were dealt. ‘If you break it down more quickly, you require more caffeine to achieve the same “buzz” or to avoid withdrawal after stopping all caffeine.’

研究員Neil Caporaso 說：“攜帶CYP1A2基因的人，對咖啡成癮的機率較大。我們通過新技術首次發現，我們對咖啡成癮是基於體內的基因的原因。”