prefer your café black? So you probably like dark chocolate, according to new research that has identified a genetic basis for those preferences.
If the answer is yes, then congratulations — you are the lucky genetic winner of a trait that can give you a boost to a good health, according to caffeine researcher Marilyn Cornelis, associate professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
“I tell people my preference is coffee research,” Cornelis said. “It’s a hot topic.”
Why hot? As studies show that moderate amounts of black coffee — between 3 and 5 cups a day — lower the risk of certain diseases, including Parkinson’s, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and various cancers.
But these benefits are likely to be most effective if the coffee is free of all the milks, sugars, and other fattening flavors we tend to add.
“We know there is growing evidence to suggest that there is a beneficial impact of coffee consumption on health. But reading between the lines, anyone advising someone to consume coffee would normally advise them to consume black coffee because of the difference between consuming black coffee and coffee with milk and sugar,” said Cornelis.
“One is naturally calorie free. The second can add possibly hundreds of calories to your coffee, and the health benefits can be quite different,” she added.
a gene for coffee
In previous research, Cornelis and his team found that a variant genetics it can contribute to some people drinking several cups of coffee a day while others don’t.
“People with the gene metabolize caffeine faster, so the stimulant effects wear off faster and they need to drink more coffee,” she said.
“This could explain why some individuals are okay with consuming a lot of coffee compared to other people who may be nervous or very anxious,” she added.
On a new study published in Nature Scientific Reports, Cornelis analyzed more precise types of coffee lovers, separating black coffee lovers from cream and sugar lovers.
“We found that coffee drinkers with the genetic variant that reflects faster caffeine metabolism prefer bitter and black coffee,” Cornelis said. “We’ve also found the same genetic variant in people who prefer plain tea to sweetened dark chocolate over milk chocolate.”
Bitter food and that mental boost
But here’s a twist. Cornelis and his team don’t think the preference has anything to do with the taste of pure coffee or black tea. Instead, she said, people with this gene prefer black coffee and tea because they associate the bitter taste with the increased mental alertness they crave with caffeine.
“Our interpretation is that these people equate caffeine’s natural bitterness with a psychostimulating effect,” Cornelis said. “They learn to associate bitterness with caffeine and the boost they feel. We are seeing a learned effect.”
The same applies to the preference for dark chocolate over milk, he added.
“When they think of caffeine, they think of a bitter taste, so they also like dark chocolate,” Cornelis said. “It’s possible that these people are very sensitive to the effects of caffeine and also have learned this behavior from other bitter foods.”
Dark chocolate contains a little caffeine, but a lot more of a compound called theobromine, a known caffeine-related nervous system stimulant. But the more the better when it comes to theobromine, studies have found — higher doses can increase heart rate and ruin mood.
Dark chocolate is also full of calories, so keeping consumption low is good for your health. Still, studies have found that even a small bite of dark chocolate a day can contribute to heart health e reduce the risk of diabetes.
This is likely because cocoa contains many flavonoids — epicatechin and catechin — antioxidant compounds that improve blood flow.
Other foods that contain flavonoids include green, oolong, and black teas; Red wine; Green cabbage; onions; berries; citrus fruits and soy.
Future studies will try to deal with the genetic preference for other bitter foods, Cornelis said, “which are generally linked to more health benefits.”
“This could show that individuals genetically predisposed to consume more coffee are also involved in other potentially healthy behaviors,” she said.
This content was originally created in English.
original version
Reference: CNN Brasil