Chocoholism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chocoholic is a portmanteau of "chocolate" and "alcoholic," referring to an alleged addiction to chocolate.
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[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
- 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, water. There may have been a semantic shift somewhere along the way here as well -- but this is unlikely as chocolate was served as a bitter, coffee-like beverage and not as a sweet candy.
[edit] Chemistry
Chocolate contains a variety of substances. 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] Possible effects
Chocoholism, if not maintained, may result in over-consumption of chocolate, which may cause high blood-sugar levels and possibly obesity.
