You can credit your parents for your baby blues or your olive skin but other less obvious traits may also stem from your genes. Mom and Dad could even be to blame for your dislike of cilantro, fear of dentists, and utter lack of athletic ability. Here, 7 behaviors, preferences, and more, all—surprisingly—controlled by your genes.

  1. You absolutely cannot wake up without coffee. Photo by Cultura/yellowdog/Getty Images If your parents reach for a cup of joe before they start their day, chances are you do, too. A study led by Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers shows a genetic link between responses to caffeine. This could relate to variations in genetic differences in drug receptors (the part of the cell that interacts with a drug molecule—in this case caffeine) among people, says Riya Pulicharam, MD, director of clinical research, HE & Outcomes at HealthCare Partners in Los Angeles, who was not involved in the study. This diversity may determine whether or not a person experiences a positive or negative reaction to caffeine. (See the happy affect coffee can have on you with this fun infographic.)
  2. The smell of Mexican food makes you cringe.A gene that influences smell may be responsible for a strong dislike of the herb cilantro, which is often used in Mexican cuisine. A genetic survey of nearly 30,000 people traced a cilantro aversion to a gene, OR6A2, which is very sensitive to the chemicals that give the herb its distinct flavor. Those put off by it said cilantro tasted like soap. For people who still want to enjoy the herb as a seasoning, researchers suggest crushing the leaves, which helps eliminate the aroma.
  3. You’d rather skydive with a sketchy-looking parachute than get your teeth cleaned. Not many people look forward to a dentist appointment, but an actual fear of the dentist can be handed down from parents, a study from Madrid shows. Published in the International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry, the research found a link between fear levels amongst fathers, mothers, and children. “If the parents are hovering over the dentist’s chair, making comments such as, ‘Don’t worry, it won’t hurt; it will be over soon,’ the child feels that there is something to worry about,” says Don Atkins, DDS, a dentist in Long Beach, CA. If this carries over into adulthood, the child may become part of the 9-15% of adults who avoid the dentist due to fear. Of course, this sort of behavior likely applies to other types of anxiety, too—something to keep in mind if you’re a nervous parent. MORE: 9 Highly Effective Solutions For Anxiety
  4. Just the idea of running a marathon makes you never ever want to get out of bed. Photo by ILoveImages/Getty Images The amount of effort it takes for you to succeed as an athlete is at least partially determined by your genes. A study involving 98 two-generation families showed a wide range of responses to exercise improvement, which appear linked to 21 gene variants. People who possessed at least 19 of the “favorable” versions of the gene improved their aerobic capacity nearly three times as much as people who had fewer than 10. This shows that if two people—one who is genetically endowed and the other who isn’t—are doing the same workout at the same intensity, they will not get the same results, says Irv Rubenstein, PhD, exercise physiologist and co-founder of S.T.E.P.S., a science based fitness facility in Nashville, TN. “But while you can’t overcome your genes, you can maximize them with the right training and skill development.” MORE: The Running Plan For People Who Think They Can’t Run
  5. You really hate kale. If you’ve always been a picky eater it could be due in part to a variation of a taste receptor gene that makes you sensitive to bitter tasting foods such as kale, according to a study in the journal Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience. However, since tastebuds regenerate approximately every 10 days, you can control how you “set them up,” says Lori Zanini, RD, spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “For example, if you eat something very sweet today then lower your intake of sweet-tasting foods for the next 10 days and have the same sugary food days later, it would taste much sweeter at that point due to taste bud regeneration.” The same type of response may occur with bitterness, so consuming vegetables regularly could help adjust your palate, making the taste of veggies less shocking the more you eat them.
  6. Asparagus makes your pee smell funny.Eating asparagus can cause urine to smell distinctly like sulfur, but only some people are able to detect the smell, studies show. A particular receptor gene appears to link with the ability to perceive the odor. “During digestion of asparagus certain chemical compounds like sulfurous amino acids are broken down and metabolized to yield ammonia and other products that give urine a characteristic smell,” says Pulicharam. And since these smelly compounds are airborne, the odor drifts up as the urine leaves the body and can be detected as soon as 15 minutes after eating the vegetable. (Check out what the color of your pee says about you.)
  7. You can make a violin sing. Photo by moodboard/Getty Images Sticking to music lessons long enough to become an accomplished musician takes self-discipline, which involves nature as well as nurture, a Michigan State University study shows. “Self-discipline is a learned trait, however, genetics can help encourage self-control and self-discipline,” says Tina B. Tessina, PhD, psychotherapist and author of It Ends With You: Grow Up and Out of Dysfunction. Genetic traits such as acute hearing can contribute to a desire to create music, for example, and provide motivation that underlies discipline. But as with many other genetic traits, researchers note that your environment also plays a role in “nurturing” the ability to express these creative genes. MORE: Sneaky Signs You Drink Too Much