Oreos As “Addictive” As Cocaine in Lab Rat Study
By Jacque Wilson, CNN
Scientists have thought for a long time that our brains crave junk food in the same way they crave other pleasurable substances, like illegal drugs. Previous studies in rodents and humans have shown that the same area of the brain that lights up on scans when people use drugs also shows in increased activity when the test subjects consume, or even look at, high sugar foods. Some scientists believe that certain foods trigger the brain to signal for more, which is similar to the way addictive drugs prompt cravings, like if we don’t have caffeine for a while, we get headaches. Scientists tested this using a maze with two sides to test their theory. On one side, there were oreos and on the other, rice cakes. Another test was at either side an injection of cocaine or saline. The rats were allowed to choose which side of the maze they went to. Researchers then analyzed the Oreo’s effect on the rats’ brains by looking at the number of neurons in the nucleus accumbens - the brain’s “pleasure center” - that were activated by eating.
This study just shows that we understand why it’s sometimes difficult to resist junk food even though we know it’s bad for us, and reinforces the saying, ‘everything in moderation.’ I think that this is important to understand because food is a huge part of the way we live, and to know how it affects us in different ways is very important and can change our perceptions as to what we put in our bodies.
I thought this article was really interesting, because I had never thought of how severely the foods we eat affect us, and that food that we love is sometimes addictive. This article was pretty well written and included many details and vital facts about the topic it was discussing. Overall, I think this author did a great job presenting new information that might change the way we look at food.
Wilson, Jacque. "Oreos as 'addictive' as Cocaine in Lab Rat Study." The Chart RSS. Cable News Network, 16 Oct. 2013. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. <http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/16/oreos-as-addictive-as-cocaine-in-lab-rat-study/>.
The author of this article review did a good job presenting the studies that were done to prove to the reader that Oreos are just as addictive as cocaine. I this way, She does a wonderful job introducing the problem. Also, she did a good job explaining how food can effect us in every day life. however, the author could have made this review better is explaining the link between cocaine and Oreos. Also if she told us where exactly in the brain the pleasure center is. What blew me away about this article review was how closely related cocaine is to Oreos.
ReplyDeleteLiv had a really well written article. She clearly explained what her article was about and elaborated on the subject. Liv's article was about how our daily eating habits, and how when our body craves high doses of sugars, it is the same as when our body craves a drug that we are addicted to. For instance, in the article, Liv explains how when you drink a lot of coffee, and then suddenly take a break from it, you begin to suffer from headaches because your body is not used to the dramatic change of not having caffeine in your body. I also liked how Liv gave the example of the rodent test, how they were given the chance to run through either side of the maze, and since our body craves sugars, the rats went to the oreos because our body is so addicted to sugar, the sugary choice seems to satisfy our bodies craving more.
ReplyDeleteI liked Liv's review, but i feel like she could have given more examples as to how the author could have made his article better. Also, i would have liked more details as to why it is so hard for our body to stop craving harsh sugars.
Overall, i think Liv did a very nice job with this article. I am really glad i have learned this valuable piece of information, because myself, being a oreo eater, i am glad i now know what it is doing to my body.
I think Liv did an excellent job summarizing this article. She did a great job explaining the process the scientists used to find this information. I also liked how she explained all of the things that go off inside of the brain with sweets and drugs and how they are similar. She also did a good job explaining how an addiction with sweets and an addiction to drugs can be.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I would’ve liked more about this review would’ve been if she elaborated a little more on how the experiment went with the rats. Also, I would’ve liked if she explained a little more how the author of the article could’ve written it better.
One thing that surprises me about this is how junk food can actually be addictive and how similar it can be to an addiction to drugs.
I thought Liv did a very good job at reviewing the article “Oreos as Addictive as Cocaine in Lab Rat Study” by Jacque Wilson. I think she chose a very interesting and relevant article and I found the review very interesting to read. She did a very good job at summarizing it, and it was very easy to understand how the experiment was conducted. Liv also did a good job at stating why this article is relevant to humans.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I think Liv could have done to make it better would be to add more detail about the outcome of the experiment and what the conclusions were. It would be interesting to see the difference in stimulation of cocaine versus an Oreo. I also think that Liv could have gone into a little more depth in her critique.
I learned a lot from this article, I never realized that an Oreo or junk food was actually addicting and I was very surprised that it could be compared to something as extreme as cocaine. This is a very informing and well written review which taught me a lot about what I eat and that I need to be careful with junk food. Overall, Liv did a very good job and taught me a lot
Liv's review of this article was great. Her summary of the article provided excellent background on the article and made it much easier to understand. Liv's writing in this review was also good, she was clear and concise which made her review easy to read. Her input on how the contents of the article affect us in our daily lives also makes for a much better review.
ReplyDeleteLiv wrote her review very well but there were a few things she could have improved on. Liv could have developed her description of the experiment more which would have granted a better understanding of the reasoning behind the author's claim.
I was surprised that the addictive qualities of unhealthy foods could be compared to the addictiveness of cocaine.
I believe that Liv did very good job on the review of the article “Oreos As “Addictive” As Cocaine in Lab Rat Study” by Jacque Wilson. One aspect of her review that I believe was well done was the smooth transitions she had from paragraph to paragraph; this allowed me to not feel lost as I read on. Another aspect that I liked about this review was how the summary was very straight forward and easy to understand, allowing me to feel like I had just read the actual article about junk food and addiction. One last aspect that I believe was well done was how Liv explained in detail how these studies on junk food and addiction are important to what people regard as safe foods to put in their bodies.
ReplyDeleteEven though Liv wrote a very good review, there were still some improvements that I can think of that would improve her review. One suggestion I have is for Liv to put in how the issue of the article personally affects her, this would allow the reader to see her personal opinion. Another suggestion I have for Liv is to have explained if Oreos such as caffeine might have any withdrawal affects such as a headache.
Something that impressed me about this review was learning how Oreos and other junk foods with high amounts of sugar can actually be very addicting. This has made me realize that I have to be careful with the junk food I eat so that I do not begin to have cravings constantly for a junk food.
Liv's article was very interesting and i think it's a good topic to bring up and i like the article she chose because she brings up some interesting points, and this article could be appealing to our generation. I also like the article she chose because the title even makes u want to read it and learn about the topic. Liv had a great summary of the article and a well thought out review of the article.
ReplyDeleteI think Liv could have told us more about why she thought the article was interesting and what she thought was the most interesting about the article. I also think she could have expanded on what this study shows us.
I enjoyed reading her review and thought it was very interesting and significant topic to bring up. Liv wrote a great review and i am happy i read it and i was able to learn more about this topic.
I found Liv’s review to be extremely interesting. I never thought about how addicting some foods really are until now but I understand what the article is talking about. I also thought Liv did an excellent job explaining the experiment that the scientists performed on the rats. Finally, I think it was nice that Liv’s review was short and concise. One thing I think Liv could improve is that I would have liked to know more about how foods that are high in sugar effect the brain in comparison to drugs. I also want to know why these foods affect our brains the way they do. Overall I thought Liv did a great job and I would be interested in learning more about this topic.
ReplyDeleteI found Liv's article one of my favorite topics I have read yet. The title really drew me in to read more. The topic was interesting and made you wonder about all foods. Like what other foods that you eat are naturally addicting to the human body. Also Liv really seemed to enjoy the topic she picked. She gave great detail and seemed to understand what she was talking about. Lastly a thing Liv did a good job on was describing to the reader how the experiment was performed on the rat. This helped me understand how it worked and what exactly the Oreo did to the rat.
ReplyDeleteLiv could have improved a few things in her review. In the first paragraph I felt like I got a little lost during some of her sentences. I think she could have touched up some of her grammar to make it more understandable for the reader. Also Liv could have described other foods that might be addictive. So far she has only gave an example of an Oreo so they can't make the statement that people are partly innocent for eating junk food if they only have evidence for Oreos.
Overall I really enjoyed Liv's review. I really enjoyed this topic and now I will always think of it when I am about to put an Oreo into my mouth. I chose this review right away when I saw the title and am excited that I read it.
Even though this was not a review written for this current event assignment, the title caught my eye. First of all, I think Liv did a really good job of writing something that is actually interesting to ninth graders. I tried to read some of the newer reviews, but I kept wanting to go back to Liv’s and learn about the topic. Another thing she did well was explaining the actual test that was performed on the rats. Third, I liked how she gave good background information. She told the reader why rats were used and how they are similar to humans.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I think Liv could have worked on was that she could have given some more information about the human brain. She talked about the brain’s “pleasure center” which was activated by eating. I wanted to know more about this: where it is, what exactly it does, etc. Also, I think Liv could have added more details about the test performed on the rats with drugs. I would have liked to know more about this test, as well.
This entire review was a new topic to me. I had no idea that humans crave high-sugar foods like they can crave drugs! It was a really interesting and quite shocking thing to learn. It tells us that we really have to be careful of what we are putting into our bodies.
I think Liv did a really great job reviewing the article, “Oreos as Addictive as Cocaine in Lab Rat Study,” by Jacque Wilson. She did a great job summarizing the article and condensing the information to help us understand it better. She also showed that this experiment not only affects the rat population but how it can be related to humans. I also loved that fact that she chose an article that can actually be applied to students right now. She didn’t choose a meaningless article for students to read about, we can actually relate to the issue this article discusses.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I would have liked Liv to add is if there was any type of solution discussed in the article, since if so highly relates to me I would like to know if there is anything I could do to help no being quite as addicted. Another thing maybe she could change is her critique of the original article. Maybe she could have added a few more ways the author could improve his article.
Something that will definitely stick with me from Liv’s review is the fact that cocaine is so closely related to Oreos. We really don’t think how heavily impacted we could be by a small amount of junk food but this really opened my eyes. I have learned a lot and to be more careful with my eating choices. Overall Liv did a great job!!
Liv did a really good job summarizing this article. The topic is interesting and makes you want to read it, especially because it pertains to many of us who eat Oreos. Liv explained the article very well and gave details to support the idea. She also explained why this article is relevant to us and why we should be more aware of this issue. I liked that she made the experiment sound simple and easy to understand.
ReplyDeleteLiv could have done a better job at telling the results of the experiments conducted. I would be interested to see if the rats were as addicted to Oreos as they were to drugs. Another thing she could have worked on is critiquing the article a little more. She didn't give many examples of things she would like to change in the article.
I didn't know that some junk foods were as addictive as cocaine or harmful drugs that take over people's lives. I learned that you have to be very careful about what you're eating. You probably wouldn't think it was bad to eat a couple Oreos, but you would think it's bad to do cocaine. However, now I know that junk foods can be as addictive as drugs. Liv did a great job on reviewing this article.
Liv, you had a very strong current event review. First off, you did a great job picking out an interesting article. The title of your article caught my eye and made me want to read your review of it. You picked an article that relates directly to 9th graders. Second, your summary of the article was on point. You hit on all of the important facts and details from the article but kept it short and sweet in the process. This kept your summary paragraph informative but still entertaining because it wasn't overwhelming. Finally, you did a great job explaining the experiment that the scientists performed on the rats. You gave clear details that allowed the reader to picture the experiment precisely.
ReplyDeleteI do think you could have included more quotes in your review of the article. A quote really adds variety to writing, spices up the review a little bit, and adds some direct writing from the article. A couple quotes really would have been helpful in this review. Also, it would have been helpful if you could have gone more into depth in terms of the results of the experiment. The review would have been improved tenfold if you were able to connect the results of rats to the results of humans.
Overall, you did a good job. Although I had a couple of simple suggestions, your review was one of the best I've read all semester. You were able to connect with me through this article because I am an avid Oreo eater. I never knew about Oreos being that addictive. This review enlightened me and interested me.