Ever wonder why you enjoy bitter, dark-roasted coffee or hoppy beer while your colleague reaches for sweet cola? Researchers examined genetic variations in taste perception to explain our beverage preferences. The findings were surprising: preferences for bitter or sweet drinks aren't tied to taste genes, but to those influencing the psychoactive effects of these beverages.
"The genetics of our preferences link to the psychoactive components in these drinks," noted the lead researcher. "People drink coffee and alcohol because of how they make us feel—not primarily for the taste."
Key discovery: A variant in the FTO gene, previously associated with lower obesity risk, was linked to higher consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks.
How the study worked
Beverages were grouped by taste: bitter (coffee, tea, grapefruit juice, beer, red wine, spirits) and sweet (sugar-sweetened drinks, artificially sweetened drinks, non-grapefruit juices). This classification draws from validated prior research.
Consumption data from 24-hour diet recalls and questionnaires covered about 336,000 UK Biobank participants. Researchers conducted genome-wide association studies on bitter and sweet drink intake, replicating key results in three U.S. cohorts.
