There's a simple explanation for why you can eat an entire pack of Oreos in a day like it's nothing: they're as addictive as coke. Connecticut College researchers claim to have unearthed evidence proving that Oreo cookies are every bit as addictive as cocaine. For lab rats, that is.
Jamie Honohan came up with the study which explored how high-fat, high-sugar foods impact low-income neighborhoods. Honohan explained that Oreos were selected because they're "America's favorite cookie," "highly palatable to rats" and are "heavily marketed in communities with lower socioeconomic statuses."
A maze was created for rats with an Oreo on one side and a grain of rice on the other. They favorted the Oreo, and results were similar to a study where rats where given a shot of either morphine or cocaine on one side of a maze and saline on the other.
The truly alarming revelation is that Oreos triggered "significantly more neurons than cocaine or morphine," essentially making them a gateway drug. Also, "the other side of the maze" is clearly just a metaphor for sobriety or rehab.
[via Gawker]
