Its eight pm, you’re hungry, you’re bored. You hear that familiar crinkling of the Oreo tray as if they are calling to you from another planet. An hour later, not much can be remembered, but you sit amongst cookie crumbs, an empty Oreo container, and with a ring of chocolate death on your mouth.
If this sounds familiar, fear not, you are not alone, and might be suffering from an addiction scientists are comparing to the reaction someone addicted to narcotics, like Cocaine, may suffer.
No this is not made up, it’s actually a study performed by scientists and students at Connecticut College, not yet published. Jamie Honohan, a student of Neuroscience at the University, speaking on the reason for the study, stated;
?My research interest stemmed from a curiosity for studying human behavior and our motivation when it comes to food. We chose Oreo?s, not only because they are America’s favorite cookie, but also products containing high amounts of fat and sugar are heavily marketed in communities with lower socioeconomic statuses.?
The study began by placing a rice cake and an Oreo into a rat’s cage, with little surprise, the rat immediately went for the cookie. After that, the researchers separated two groups of rats between rooms at the University.
The first group was given Oreo cookies, while the second group was injected with Cocaine or Morphine. After studying the brain reactions in the two different groups or rats, scientists discovered the stimulation to the pleasure part of the brain is higher with Oreo cookies than those receiving Morphine or Cocaine.
The rats dying for their next fix of Oreo cookies were actually having more brain stimulation from the cookie, than those with Narcotic fixations. This Oreo addiction discovery is being seen as possible proof that those ?Junk Food Junkies? are actually suffering from the same type of brain stimulated addiction as those addicted to narcotics.
For those Oreo lovers out there don’t tearfully throw away your Oreo’s just yet. The stimulation to brain is more connected to the high sugar and high fat content of foods like Oreo?s, not the actual ingredients themselves. This study is being presented to the Neurological Society next month, and may be published shortly afterwards.
Until then keep dunking away in your glass of milk, but remember, one day you may just end up in Oreo rehab.
