Oreos Are As Addictive As Cocaine – Report

Oreos might be just as highly addictive as known addictive drugs such as cocaine and morphine, according to a recent study.

A team at the Connecticut College Fund led by neuroscience assistant professor Joseph Schroeder used hungry rats to test the addictiveness of the popular cookie, reported NBC. On one side of a maze they placed Oreos, and on the other they placed rice cakes. The rats proved partial to the Oreos, and when allowed to wander freely, congregated on the Oreo side of the maze.

In a parallel test, the researchers offered cocaine or morphine on one side of a maze and saline on the other. The addictive drugs proved more popular, and when allowed to wander freely, the lab rats gathered on the side of the cocaine or morphine.

“Our research supports the theory that high-fat/high-sugar foods stimulate the brain in the same way that drugs do,” said Schroeder. “That may be one reason people have trouble staying away from them and it may be contributing to the obesity epidemic.”

Schroder’s research team expounded on their theory in a statement, outlining the takeaway from the study. “These findings suggest that high fat/sugar foods and drugs of abuse trigger brain addictive processes to the same degree and lend support to the hypothesis that maladaptive eating behaviors contributing to obesity can be compared to drug addiction.”

Schroder and his team will present their study at the Society for Neuroscience event in San Diego in November.

– Chelsea Regan

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