Chocoholism

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.

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.

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.

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.

ee also

*Sugar addiction
*-holism

External links

* [http://www.chocolate.org/ Psychopharmalogical Effects of Chocolate]
* [http://www.amanochocolate.com/articles/caffeineinchocolate.html How Much Caffeine is in Chocolate?]