Ice cream as 'addictive as cocaine': Study

LONDON: Craving for ice cream can be so strong it is similar to that experienced by drug addicts, a study has found.

The research has sparked concerns that the dessert could be genuinely addictive after it found the brain was left wanting more ice cream in the same way as someone who regularly uses cocaine, the Daily Mail reported Monday.

The results of the study now seem to support previous claims that some people can become "addicted" to junk food.

The study, published online by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that those who regularly ate ice cream needed more and more to replicate the "high" they first experienced. This mirrors the effect cocaine - and other class A drugs - has on users, it was reported.

According to Kyle Burger, from the Oregon Research Institute, overeating food with high fat and sugar seems to change the way the brain responds to it, resulting in it downgrading the mental "reward".

Burger, who is a co-author of the study, told The Telegraph: "This down-regulation pattern is seen with frequent drug use, where the more an individual uses the drug, the less reward they receive for using it."