Life Health & Fitness Health


Oreos found to be more addictive than cocaine, morphine


Click on this and hum along (AP Photo)


Do you know exactly how to eat an Oreo - without becoming addicted?

Apparently, rats don't. In a study conducted by researcher at Connecticut College - which will heretofore be known as the place where Oreos were found to be as addictive as cocaine - rats were found to form a similar association between the two brain charmers.

Eating the cookies, they found, activated more pleasure-center brain neurons than being exposed to cocaine or morphine (both of which, by the way, the professor in charge of the research, is licensed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to purchase and use for research.)

The study was the idea of senior Jamie Honohan, who had a perfectly serious reason for wondering. She wanted to learn (quoting the school's news source here) "how the prevalence of high-fat and high-sugar foods in low-income neighborhoods contributed to the obesity epidemic."

To read how the experiment was conducted, click here. We will say that - surprise, surprise, Oreos not only beat out cocaine and morphine; they also beat out rice cakes. OK, full something-must-be-wrong-with-me disclosure here: I prefer rice cakes.

One other tidbit, but first a jingle reminder:

"Do you know exactly how to eat an Oreo?

Well, to do it, you unscrew it, very fast.

'Cause a kid'll eat the middle of an Oreo first

And save the chocolate cookie outside for last." 

That said, guess how rats ate the Oreos? Yep, filling first.


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