Oreo cookies are as addictive as cocaine – especially when it comes to the creamy center, a new study claims.
Lab rats who ate “America’s favorite cookie” formed an equally strong association as they did when injected with cocaine or morphine, student researchers at Connecticut College claim.
The cookies also ignited more neurons in the “pleasure center” of the brain than exposure to abusive drugs, according to the researchers.
“Our research supports the theory that high-fat/ high-sugar foods stimulate the brain in the same way that drugs do,” said Neuroscience Professor Joseph Schroeder, who led the study.
“It may explain why some people can’t resist these foods despite the fact that they know they are bad for them.”
The student behind the study says she wanted to explore how foods with high fat and sugar content contribute to obesity in low-income communities, and that the results are troubling.
The research was the brainchild of neuroscience major Jamie Honohan, who wanted to see if the prevalence of high-fat and high-sugar food in low-income neighborhoods contributed to the US obesity epedemic.
“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,” she said.
To run the tests, students set up a maze – with Oreos on one side and rice cakes on the other.
Oreos won out.
“Just like humans, rats don’t seem to get much pleasure out of eating rice cakes,” Schroeder cracked.
As they watched the rats eat, the researchers noticed that the animals went straight for the center – breaking the cookie apart and leaving the chocolate cookie outside for last.
The results of the Oreo and rice cake tests were then compared with results from an identical tests, where some were given cocaine or morphine injections and others got saline.
The study found that the Oreo rats spent as much time on the “drug” side of their maze as the rats conditioned with cocaine or morphine.
They found that the Oreos activated significantly more neurons than cocaine or morphine.
“This correlated well with our behavioral results and lends support to the hypothesis that high-fat/ high-sugar foods are addictive,” said Schroeder.
Schroeder, who will present the research next month at the Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego, told reporters he hasn’t touched an Oreo since finishing the experiment.
A rep for Nabisco, which makes Oreos, could not immediately be reached.