CHOCOHOLICS beware: your favourite food contains substances that help produce
alcoholics鈥� cravings for booze.
These 鈥渘euroactive鈥� alkaloids, known as tetrahydro-beta-carbolines, are
produced when our bodies metabolise beer, wine or spirits. Now researchers at
the Spanish Council for Scientific Research in Madrid have found these alkaloids
in chocolate at concentrations as high as 7 micrograms per gram (Journal of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol 48, p 4900).
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if chocolate is really addictive,鈥� says Tomas Herraiz, 鈥渂ut the
cravings are real.鈥� This might explain why rats drink less alcohol if given
chocolate, he adds. On the other hand, some of the same alkaloids can be found
in fruit, which doesn鈥檛 seem to be addictive.
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