Caffeine cravings could be in your genes

DRINK more coffee than your colleague at work? Well, that caffeine desire could be down to your genes.

Researchers found that people with a certain variation of the PDSS2 gene don’t need to consume as much coffee to get a caffeine hit.

Those without the variation metabolise caffeine more quickly and as a result, are more likely to want to drink more coffee.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Trieste, Italy, studied the DNA of around 3,000 coffee drinkers in the Netherlands and Italy. Participants were asked to complete a survey about how many cups they had each day.

It found Italian people with the DNA variation, on average, drank one less cup of coffee a day than those without it and it was slightly less in the Netherlands for those with the variation.

According to research group Mintel, the amount of money being spent on coffee in the UK alone should reach £4 (€4.6) billion in 2020.

Many consumers purchase their caffeine shot from high street coffee shops with Costa Coffee being the most popular followed by Starbucks and having spotted another market McDonald’s is catching up fast.

Since 2015, annual sales have increased by £1 (€1.15) billion and the average drinker has drifted away from the high street café to specialist coffee shops.