Your morning jolt of java may be doing more than just waking you up and keeping you focused until lunchtime.
Study Looked at Caffeine’s Genetic Links to Weight and Joints
For a recent study published in BMC Medicine in February, researchers conducted a phenome-wide association study, a method used to identify genetic markers associated with an individual’s observed traits (phenotype) or risk of disease.They examined the genetic variants linked with caffeine metabolism and how that might affect the level of caffeine circulating in the blood (plasma caffeine).
The researchers obtained genetic data for plasma caffeine from previous genome-wide association studies involving 9,876 people between 47 and 71 years old, most of whom were of European descent.
Genetic information for osteoarthritis and osteoarthrosis, as well as body mass index (BMI) data, was drawn from a meta-analysis that included more than 177,000 cases and over 649,000 controls.
Study Limitations
However, scientists could not confirm certain factors associated with caffeine consumption. The study used genetic association data, so it is not possible to extrapolate the direct effect of individuals consuming caffeine in their diet, Dr. Dipender Gill, the study’s lead author and a clinician scientist at Imperial College London, told The Epoch Times.
“Further, it is not possible to disentangle whether the potential effects observed are specific to caffeine or other chemicals also present in caffeine-containing food and drink products,” he added.
The findings should inform further research into the health effects of caffeine and potentially be developed to be harnessed therapeutically, Dr. Gill noted.
Inconsistent Data Cloud Caffeine’s Potential for Weight Loss
Biologically, caffeine has been thought to work well for weight management as it has been found to increase metabolism and help with burning fat in animals and cell cultures, Dr. Sriram Machineni, who heads up a weight management program at Montefiore Einstein in New York, told The Epoch Times. However, the research is sometimes contradictory.“There have been association studies which have been inconsistent in showing a relationship between intake of caffeine and obesity,” he said. “For example, higher blood caffeine levels in children equals more obesity,” he added, noting that this was likely due to soda consumption making up the caffeine intake in this age group.
The relationship between obesity and caffeine intake in adults has not been well studied, Dr. Machineni said.
“Previously, supplements with caffeine, ephedra, and aspirin were widely used for weight loss before ephedra-containing drugs had to be withdrawn from the market due to arrhythmias,” he said.
Another important question is whether these findings mean increasing caffeine consumption is advisable for weight loss. “Not at this time,” Dr. Machineni said. Better controlled studies are needed before making such a recommendation, he noted. “The data is not strong enough to make either a positive or negative recommendation,” he added. “The association is not consistent.”
