New research suggests that our DNA helps us to decide whether we prefer coffee or tea. Researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia studied how our genes affected our taste and why we like some tastes more than others. Following the research, researchers believe they know why some of us prefer coffee while others like tea more. The researchers found that people who like more bitter tastes are more likely to drink coffee. The researchers said they found something strange in their research. People who were more sensitive to the bitter taste of caffeine were more likely to prefer coffee to tea. They were also more likely to drink more coffee than those who were not so sensitive to caffeine.
Researchers looked at data on more than 400,000 men and women in the United Kingdom. They also looked at an Australian study that compared the tastes of 1,757 twins with their siblings. The researchers said genes aren't the only factors affecting people's tastes. Other things like our changing environment, social factors or the effects of taking medicine can also turn us on or off coffee or tea. The researchers said we can learn to like coffee. Dr Liang-Dar Hwang said: "Bitter taste perception is shaped not only by genetics, but also environmental factors. Even though humans naturally dislike bitterness, we can learn to like or enjoy bitter-tasting food after being exposed to environmental factors."
