A friend and I were discussing our love of vanilla, she for vanilla tea, and I for Vanilla Diet Coke. We wondered if vanilla, a pod like coffee and cocoa, was addictive. it sure is! No wonder they put the flavor in everything these days.
quote: Is vanilla addictive? Vanilla is highly addictive. The active ingredient in vanilla is vanillic acid. Vanillic acid is related to the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine, both of which stimulate the brain. This chemical relationship explains why vanilla is a potent and addictive stimulant. Although people assume that vanilla is harmless, or even beneficial, companies know otherwise. This is why vanilla is added to ice cream, yogurt, cola, chocolate, pastry, perfume, and even cigarettes! It is wise to avoid vanilla and all products that contain vanilla.
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
Intriguing. Maybe that helps explain why I wanted a cookie so badly last night. Maybe I was craving the vanilla ingredient? Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
ack! But that vanilla flavour is just so good! *sudden longing for ice cream or milk shake*
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:Certain foods can increase urinary catecholamines including coffee, tea, bananas, chocolate, cocoa, citrus fruits, and vanilla. ... The major catecholamines are dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine (old name: adrenalin).
So it's not an outrageous claim. But I'd like to see a more reliable source.
Dagonee
Posted by Eruve Nandiriel (Member # 5677) on :
quote: I love chocolate. Do you recommend organic chocolate? I'm not surprised that you love chocolate. I've never met anyone who doesn't love chocolate. Frankly, I love chocolate. The Latin name for chocolate is "Theobroma," which means "food of the gods." Apparently, even the gods love chocolate. Unfortunately, chocolate is extremely addictive and harmful, regardless of whether the chocolate is organic or not.
Never come between me and my Chocolate!
Posted by scottneb (Member # 676) on :
quote: It is wise to avoid vanilla and all products that contain vanilla.
I'm sure that you could make the same case about everything edible. The fact is there is a chemical relationship to everything we eat. Every time we open our mouths to put food in our bodies give us a rush of endorphines that give us a 'good' feeling. This relationship between us and our food is what keeps us eating and alive. In some people the endorphines are release even moreso and they find that nothing else can make them feel as good as they feel when they eat, which leads almost always to obeisity.
My point is, our bodies function almost completly based on chemicals. No matter what scary names you attach to the chemicals they still are just that, and that's what our bodies NEED to live.
[ April 11, 2005, 02:10 PM: Message edited by: scottneb ]
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
You know, Dag, I think you are right. I have not found any other links, except for ones which mention vanilla tea. There was a recipe for it which used vanilla, so it was not a vanilla flaring added to tea.
Interestingly, there was also a link to Mormon diet, but it would not open! Grr.
We had thought, because it was a bean like coffee and cocoa, it might have some similar effects. I will keep looking.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
As for it being a word in Latin. Hmm. Latin was not a language in common use when Cortez or whoever brought chocolate, and vanilla, back from Mexico.
The word "vanilla" comes from a word for "vagina," because the pods are shaped in a similar fashion.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Hmm. Perhaps this is why it is addictive...
"It has also been regarded as an aphrodisiac. It has been employed as a remedy in hysteria, low fevers, impotency, etc. But its use as a medicine is obsolete in this country, although still sometimes employed on the Continent and elsewhere.” "
...and I don't taste like vanilla.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote: We had thought, because it was a bean like coffee and cocoa, it might have some similar effects.
Uh . . . so green beans are next on your hit list? Not all legumes contain stimulants, either.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Do you think of it as a hit list, Rivka? It is actually more like a go get 'em list.
Besides, vanilla is not a legume. It is actually an orchid.
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
Mmm... Diet Vanilla Coke... *twitch*
And isn't "theobroma" of Greek origin?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Indeed, vanilla is not a legume. It's not even really a bean.
Posted by Audeo (Member # 5130) on :
quote: And isn't "theobroma" of Greek origin?
Latin borrows a lot from Greek, but yes it would have been Greek before it was Latin.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
quote: ...and I don't taste like vanilla.
o_O
Posted by romanylass (Member # 6306) on :
That explins why I would pour roughly a 1/4 bottle of vanilla into my cookies, rather than the 1 tsp. they call for.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I prefer to put almond extract rather than vanilla in my chocolate chip cookies.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
By definition, all food is addictive, if you want to take it that far.
Sounds like bullshite to me....typical conspiracy theory stuff. That isn't to say it is completely without merit...but if that is the only source of this information, I am with Dag on this one.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
It isn;t really the only source, just th only one that states it strongly. I found other links to a "feel good" effect, which is certainly addictive. And, as you say, food itself can be addictive.
My point, though, was not so much to malign vanilla, as Rivka seems to think(unless she is joking). I was really just curious to see if there were effects that were similar to coffee and chocolate. There are. The effects of coffee are basically those of caffeine, and chocolate is caffeine, but also some other chemical, and vanilla hs its own little endorphin-boosting system, it seems.
My friend felt like she was hooked on vanilla tea. She wondered if it was the taste, or some chemical. And, sure, if companies know a taste sells their products, they will add the taste. Is that a conspiracy theory? I think it is just pointing out that that might be why there seem to be so many vanilla flavored things these days.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Wasn't sure what your intent was, actually. Certainly the site you linked to is out to malign vanilla -- and chocolate, and . . .
Curiosity is good. Sorry if I over-reacted.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Well, even vanilla needs its allis, Rivka. I would never want to be known as vanillaphobic.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*goes off to make vanilla pudding* Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
When given the choice between the two primal flavors of vanilla and chocolate, I always pick chocolate. I'm very selective about my harmful addictive substances.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Vanilla is sneaky. People who are fans of vanilla ice cream and vanilla pudding are often characterized as calm, steady, not taking chances, keeping it simple, when in fact they are scarfing down an aphrodisiac like it is going out of style.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Some Mexican hot chocolate has chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and chile peppers in it. I have a whole new conspiracy theory now.
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
quote:The word "vanilla" comes from a word for "vagina," because the pods are shaped in a similar fashion.
Well, sort of. Keep in mind that in Latin, "vagina" meant "sheath". It is this word, not the anatomical word, that "vanilla" is derived from (via Spanish).
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
oooo... my vanilla ice cream in the freezer suddenly seems more appealing.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Thanks, Verily. So both words derived from "sheath," I take it.
Posted by Darth Ender (Member # 7694) on :
The dark side is addictive
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Especially when hidden in a mound of white frozen sweetness. Sort of like yin and yang. Never thought of vanilla ice cream that way.
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