Benefits:
Caffeine helps increase your energy uptake and metabolism

Adverse Effects:
Caffeine increases the risk of heart attack

Recent Studies by Cornelis MC, et al - Jama . 2006; 295: 1135-1141 states:

P450 1 A2 (CYP1A2), a liver enzyme, is responsible for caffeine metabolism.
“Slow” caffeine metabolizer individuals (CYP1A2*1F), who drink coffee can increase their risk of heart attack by 36% when consuming 2-3 cups per day, and 64% when drinking 4 or more cups a day (Graph 1). More prominently, people under the ages of 50 years old will increase their risk of heart attack by 4-folds when consuming 4 or more cups a day compared to those who drink less than 1 cup a day (Graph 2).
In contrast, “fast” caffeine metabolizer individuals (CYP1A2*1A), who drink coffee can reduce their risk of heart attack by 22% when drinking 2-3 cups a day, and 1% when drinking 5-6 cups per day.
54% of the studied population has the “slow” version of the caffeine gene. That means that about ½ of the population may be susceptible to increased risk of heart attacks by drinking coffee, especially if they consumer four or more cups.

Consumer Genetics is excited to introduce the first commercially available Caffeine Metabolism Test. If you are concerned with the health of your heart and would like to find out what version of the caffeine metabolizer you have, then order your cheek swab kit today. Send it in and within 3 days, you’ll receive your results.