It sounds ridiculous, but people who are sensitive to the bitter taste of coffee are often the ones who consume this beverage the most.
That’s the finding of a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports. According to the researchers, this sensitivity is not simply a matter of taste, in fact it is caused by the influence of genetic makeup.
Many people have the ability to enjoy the bitter taste of food, especially the bitter taste of caffeine. (Image: Wikipedia).
Marilyn Cornelis, associate professor of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (Chicago, USA) said: “You might think that people who are particularly sensitive to bitterness will drink less coffee, but the results of the study by we show that many people are able to enjoy the bitterness of food, especially the bitter taste of caffeine . Their bodies seem to have a “mechanism” to become fond of unpleasant flavors.”
This finding is thought to be quite surprising, because bitter taste is often seen as a signal in a “danger warning mechanism” , which requires people to “spit” harmful substances.
Lead researcher Jue Sheng Ong, from the QIMR Berghofer Institute for Medical Research (Brisbane, Australia), said their aim was to find out how genetic factors influence the level of beverage consumption. bitter taste like tea, coffee and wine.
“The bitter taste seemed similar, but we found the bitterness of Brussels sprouts, tonic (containing a bitter compound called quinine ) and caffeine to be completely different. This is determined in part by genes. ours,” said Ong.
To reach this finding, the researchers looked at the genetic makeup and daily intake of bitter drinks in more than 400,000 people in the UK.
The results showed that people with the gene for the bitter taste of green vegetables (such as Brussels sprouts) were more likely to prefer tea over coffee. They also tended to avoid alcohol, especially red wine, more than people without these gene variants.
According to Jue Sheng Ong, this result could help scientists study alcoholism or a certain type of drink.