Study Finds Oreos Are More Addictive Than Cocaine; Also Finds Lab Rats Eat the Filling First

Oreos Are More Addictive Than Cocaine or Morphine in Scientific Study. Lab Rats start with the Creamy Center.

A new scientific study found that Oreos more addictive than cocaine or morphine. Not only that but the Scientists who fed lab rats Oreo cookies found that he rats ate the frosting first.

Rats, they are so much like us.

If Oreos work the the same on people, it explains why you have to eat Oreos a whole roll at a time.

The new study suggests the brain responds to Oreo cookies in the same say that it does to drugs.

Oreos activate the nucleus accumbens, also known as the "pleasure center" of the brain the same way that cocaine and morphine do.

The study also found that rats like to eat the filling of the Oreo first.

The study pitted Oreos against plain rice cakes in a maze. Rats went to the Oreos first. Scientists then pitted the rice against cocaine and morphine. The rats went to the cocaine or morphine first. No matter what they put up against the rice, the rats went to the other side. Maybe rats don't like rice.

The researchers also found that when rats were given Oreos, the rats released a protein called c-Fos in the area of the brain called the nucleus accumbens. This is consistent with reactions to pleasure and addiction.

Joseph Schroeder, a professor at Connecticut College, said "It basically tells us how many cells were turned on in a specific region of the brain in response to the drugs or Oreos. Our research supports the theory that high-fat/high-sugar foods stimulate the brain in the same way that drugs do. It may explain why some people can't resist these foods despite the fact that they know they are bad for them."

Schroeder led the research.

This could means that high-calorie foods are addictive.

One of the study's authors, Jamie Honohan, said "Even though we associate significant health hazards in taking drugs like cocaine and morphine, high-fat/high-sugar foods may present even more of a danger because of their accessibility and affordability. We chose Oreos not only because they are America's favorite cookie, and highly palatable to rats, but also because products containing high amounts of fat and sugar are heavily marketed in communities with lower socioeconomic statuses."

Honohan continued saying the rats "would break it open and eat the middle first."

The study will be presented at next month's annual conference of the Society for Neuroscience.

Let's hope someone brings cookies.