Coffee Health Research shows that Coffee can affect DNA in muscle

You might think that whatever you do, your inherited DNA will not be affected, but in a sense that's wrong.

In the March issue of Cell Metabolism, researchers report that when the body is healthy, inactive men and women show instantaneous changes in DNA after a few minutes of exercise. Even more surprising, the study suggests that the caffeine content of our morning coffee may affect DNA in muscle in the same way.

Exercise basically does not change the genetic code in human muscles, but the chemical properties and structure of DNA molecules in these exercise muscles change in very important ways. These modifications in the precise location of DNA appear to be early events in the genetic reprogramming of muscle to produce strength, and ultimately also early changes in muscle structure to stabilize and produce metabolic benefits from exercise.

Juleen Zierath, of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said: "Our muscles are really plastic, which is what we often say: " What you eat makes up what you absorb." Muscles change what you do, which is allowed to happen, and if you don't use them properly, you lose that function.

The DNA changes in question are epigenetic modifications, involving chemical markers of DNA and the acquisition or deletion of known sequences As, GS, TS and Cs. The new study showed that there were fewer chemical markers (especially methyl groups) in skeletal muscle DNA after a bout of exercise than before. These changes in muscle DNA are involved in turning on important genes needed for muscle adaptation to exercise.

When the researchers observed muscle contraction in laboratory dishes, they saw similar loss/depletion of DNA methyl groups. A similar phenomenon occurs when isolated muscle tissue is exposed to caffeine.

Zierath explains that caffeine does not mimic exercise in causing muscle contractions, and she does not recommend that anyone drink a cup of coffee while exercising. It's easy to misinterpret the benefits of exercise as related to coffee drinking.

Broadly speaking, the findings provide more evidence that our genomes are more dynamic than previously thought. Epigenetic modifications can turn genes on and off in a very flexible and convenient way, allowing the DNA in our cells to adjust accordingly to changes in the environment.

Zierath said: "Exercise can be used as a medicine, maybe jogging can change our genome and make us healthier." For those who don't exercise, the study suggests that caffeinated drugs may have similar effects instead of exercise."