Chocoholic

Chocoholism is a portmanteau of "chocolate" and "alcoholism," referring to an addiction to chocolate. Some connoisseurs of chocolate claim to suffer from this "condition" and describe themselves as chocoholics.

[edit] Etymology

A thorough etymology of the word exhibits most possible morphological processes

• chocoholism is a portmanteau of two English words chocolate and alcoholism. It is not a compound because it is made up of the meaningless segments cho(co) and (co)holism.
• alcoholism is derived from the noun alcohol and the derivational suffix -ism
  • alcohol as "liquor" is the result of a semantic shift from the original meaning, signifying a fine powder
  • alcohol as fine powder is a borrowing from the Arabic al-kuhul, the fine metallic powder
  • al-kuhul is derived from the root kuhul and the definite inflectional prefix al-
• chocolate is borrowed from Nahuatl xococlatl
  • xococlatl is a compound of two Nahuatl words, xococ bitter and atl. Clearly, there has been a semantic shift somewhere along the way here as well.

[edit] Chemistry

Chocolate contains a variety of substances, several of which are addictive (such as caffeine--in trace quantities). These include:

• Sugar - Chocolate (as opposed to Cocoa) contains large amounts of sugar.
• Theobromine - Various theobromines are present. Theobromine is chemically similar to caffeine.
• Anandamide - An endogenous cannabinoid which is also naturally produced in the Human brain.
• Tryptophan - An essential amino acid that is a precursor to Serotonin an important neurotransmitter involved in regulating moods.
• Phenylethylamine - A Neurotransmitter from which amphetamine is derived. Often described as a 'love chemical', however it is quickly metabolised by monoamine oxidase, so it has no effect on the central nervous system.

[edit] Pleasure of consuming

Part of the pleasure of eating chocolate is due to the fact that its melting point is slightly below human body temperature, therefore melting in the mouth.

[edit] See also

• Sugar addiction
• -holism

[edit] External links

• Psychopharmalogical Effects of Chocolate
• How Much Caffeine is in Chocolate?