Turns out your coffee choice is determined by this part of your genetic makeup

There are a few factors that influence your coffee order: location of the coffee shop on your way to the office, if you need to be super energetic for your 8 am meeting, and now, according to a new study, your heart health.

Your heart dictates your coffee preference

According to a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, cardiovascular symptomatology can be instructive of the amount of coffee one intakes a day.

The University of South Australia researchers behind the new report posit that populations with essential hypertension, angina (chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heart), or heart arrhythmia generally consume less caffeinated coffee.

These populations tend to be decaffeinated coffee drinkers compared with those who did not report the symptoms listed above.

The research was derived from 390,435 European ancestry participants logged in the UK Biobank, between the ages of 39 and 73 years old.

The authors had participants keep diaries in order to calculate coffee consumption.

The study pool had their blood pressure and heart rate measured at baseline. Cardiovascular symptoms reviewed via hospital diagnoses, primary care records, and/or self-reporting.

“We provide causal genetic evidence for cardiovascular system–driven influences on habitual coffee intakes, suggesting that people tend to naturally regulate their coffee consumption based on blood pressure levels and heart rate. These findings suggest that observational studies of habitual coffee intakes are prone to influences by reverse causation, and caution is required when inferred health benefits result from comparisons with coffee abstainers or decaffeinated coffee drinkers,” the authors wrote in the new paper.

Your body knows how much caffeine it can handle

It seems to be that people who habitually consume a lot of coffee have the genetic fortitude for it. In other words, their body knows what they can handle when it comes to caffeine intake.

“Whether we drink a lot of coffee, a little, or avoid caffeine altogether, this study shows that genetics are guiding our decisions to protect our cardio health,” the researcher concludes. “If your body is telling you not to drink that extra cup of coffee, there’s likely a reason why. Listen to your body, it’s more in tune with what your health than you may think.”

The authors intend to conduct more research to determine the depth of cardiovascular disease’s correlation with coffee consumption.