By Victoria Bell For Mailonline
Published: 18:35 BST, 11 April 2019 | Updated: 07:34 BST, 12 April 2019
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Lovers that mirror each other's drinking habits are more likely to stay together, research on 47,000 couples has revealed.
Researchers suggest that this could be down to a gene that influences how much we drink, as well as how it affects us.
Heavier drinkers were more likely to pair up and stay with partners who also regularly consume alcohol, with light-drinkers attracted to others of their ilk.
Each person in these couples were also found to be more likely to share a specific variant of a gene linked with heavy or light alcohol consumption.
Lovers that mirror each other's drinking habits are more likely to stay together, research on 47,000 couples has revealed. Researchers suggest that this could be down to a gene that influences how much we drink, as well as how it affects us
Experts from the University of Bristol analysed the genetic data of 47,000 couples in the UK Biobank, a national resource for health research, to make the fin
They looked at each person's reported alcohol consumption and compared with those carrying a gene variant known as the ADH1B gene.
A different variant of this gene is also connected to whether we experience unpleasant side effects of alcohol, with heavy drinkers less likely to experience as severe hangovers.
Laurence Howe, a PhD student at the University of Bristol told the New Scientist that previous studies on the link between alcohol use and partner choice have relied mostly on self-reported data.
'We
