
Inequality over coffee
Canadian researchers (University of Toronto) have studied how coffee is broken down in the body thanks to a specific enzyme that exists in two forms, depending on the drinker’s genetic profile. The first form allows for quick elimination of caffeine, while the second provides slower elimination. To find out whether genetic characteristics influence coffee’s effects, we recruited more than 2,000 heart attack survivors and compared them with an equal number of healthy people.
In the end, it appears that among the “slow eliminaters,” those who drank 2 or 3 cups had a 1.36-fold higher risk of heart disease; from the fourth drink on, this risk was multiplied by 1.64. For the same consumption, the quick eliminator reduced the risk by 22% and 1%, respectively.
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