• Question: I've heard that chocolate, coffee and tea are things that can make you really hyperactive or happy but when you don't have any for too long, you become grumpy again and those things are really addictive so you can't help yourself and you have some more. Do you personally agree? What in them makes us crave them things?

    Asked by u12tsangv to Susan on 17 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Susan Skelton

      Susan Skelton answered on 17 Nov 2013:

      Hi u12tsangv!
      Really interesting question. I don’t know too much about the science of these things, so I’ll answer more from my own personal experience.

      Firstly, it has to be said, I love tea and chocolate!! (Not too keen on coffee though! {yuk} ) Both tea and chocolate definitely have the effect of making me feel happier and more alert. If I am feeling sleepy and not concentrating very well on my work, I find that the magic combination of tea and chocolate have the ability to really help and can probably be credited with getting me through all the study for my exams!

      Coffee, black tea and chocolate all contain caffeine, which I think is probably what is responsible for making us feel more alert (though chocolate usually has a lot of sugar too, which can give us a short burst of energy). Caffeine is a stimulant drug which means it mildly stimulates the central nervous system.

      When something makes us feel better, it is natural that we will want to have some more, the next time we are feeling tired. If this continues for a long time, it is possible for our body to become dependent on eating or drinking foods containing caffeine to make us feel awake.

      I don’t think scientists think that caffeine is really addictive though, in the same way that some other addictive drugs like alcohol, tobacco and some illegal drugs do.

      If you stop having caffeine very suddenly it is possible to get withdrawal symptoms, such as being tired and grumpy but they should go away after a day or two.

      Do you find that you crave these foods too when you are tired?

Comments

  • Photo: u12tsangv

    u12tsangv commented on :

    Yes, absolutely! I love chocolate and tea but I’ve never tried coffee. Is caffeine a weaker drug compared to alcohol and tobacco or is it just the food and drink only have small amounts of it?

    • Photo: Susan

      Susan commented on :

      Sorry for taking a while to get back to you, u12tsangv – I’ve only just seen your comment.
      Comparing caffeine and alcohol is a bit like comparing apples and oranges! Caffeine is a stimulant drug which jazzes up your whole body; alcohol is a depressant drug, so it slows down the brain’s functioning.
      As Simon says, caffeine is a much stronger drug compared to alcohol, but food and drinks only contain a small amount of it.

  • Photo: dizzyg12

    dizzyg12 commented on :

    Am I the only one who find pistachio nuts addictive?

    • Photo: Susan

      Susan commented on :

      Dizzy, I LOVE pistachios! I always have to finish the bag once I started! 🙂
      But I don’t think this is really “addiction” in the true, medical, sense of the word – I just like the taste so want to eat more and more!

  • Photo: Simon

    Simon commented on :

    @dizzy- never heard of anyone who is really into pistachios.

  • Photo: Simon

    Simon commented on :

    @u12tsang
    Caffeine is much more potent than alcohol. A cup of really strong coffee contains only 0.1 gramme of caffeine and consuming about 10 grammes would be enough to kill an adult. When alcohol is consumed, it is in much larger quantities (a pint of beer is 10 grammes of alcohol).