Oreos are as addictive as cocaine.
Just like the title of this article, this is totally misleading!
No, oreos are not as addictive as cocaine, though a new study with rats has
found that they are more desirable to rice cakes. Much in the same way that
saline is apparently less tasty than crack.
By placing the rats in a maze where at one end there was
rice cakes and the other oreos, 100% of the time the rats chose to wander until
they found the oreos, even licking out the middle like humans before eating the
biscuit in many cases.
In the second phase of the experiment these were replaced
with saline solution and cocaine. It was found that the rats sought out the
cocaine equally so much as they had the oreos in the first experiment.
What researchers now say is that their experiment proves the
relationship between the high fat addiction which leads to obesity can be
compared to that of drug addiction. Right?
But this bizarre behaviour may not be as strange as it
seems. Rats, apparently, are as attracted to addictive substances as humans due
to the rising of dopamine levels in the brain. It is something shared by both
humans and animals and as more dopamine is produced, we want it more. So it is
natural that the thing that provides that gratification is the thing the rats
(or humans) are likely to return to.
Basically, scientists have made a bold claim. But when you
peel back the onion of logic, all they have really proved are these three
things: addiction exists in rats as well as humans;, oreos taste good, and
finally, cocaine turns out to be quite 'moreish'.
Say no to drugs, kids.
Say no to drugs, kids.
Words by Gemma Clark
