Caffeine Consumption Increases Risk of Heart Attack for Those with

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association looks at the DNA sequence of the genes responsible for how the body breaks down caffeine. One gene breaks down the caffeine rapidly. Another is a slow version.

Lead author Ahmed El-Sohemy and colleagues at the University of Toronto, Harvard University and University of Costa Rica compared the genes and coffee drinking habits of 4,000 people. Half had had heart attacks.

Ahmed El-Sohemy researches genes responsible for breaking down caffeine

El-Sohemy says coffee drinking even had beneficial effects for those under 50 who were fast metabolizers. “Consumption of as little as one to three cups a day was associated with a lower risk of heart disease,” he says.

El-Sohemy says you can’t tell which gene you have by the way you feel. And, until a commercial test is developed, he recommends drinking no more than four cups of caffeinated coffee a day.