Over the
years there has been some speculations that the use of cocaine directly relates
to weight loss. A group of scientist from the University of Cambridge wanted to
know more about the association between the two factors, so they conducted an
experiment. This experiment included 65
male volunteers from the local community. 35 of the men had been properly
diagnosed with cocaine dependency, while the other 30 were clean and had never
been users.
While
conducting the experiment scientist used a series of test to figure out the
eating patterns, and fat intake of these men. The scientist also kept a chart
of the BMI, BMD, weight, and skin fold thickness of the men who were chemical
dependent and of the men who were not.
They noticed a significant difference in the data from their charts. The
men who were cocaine dependent showed that they had higher intakes of fatty
foods, and increased food intake but there was not increase in body weight. The
men who were chemical dependent were smaller, but when asked why they used none
of them said anything about the fact that it affected weight loss. The men used for reasons such, it feels good,
or because they are bored. Researchers
came to the conclusion that for the men it had nothing to do with losing weight
or suppressing their appetite. They
concluded that perhaps this theory was only gender specific, seeing that no
women were used in this particular study they could not be 100% sure but that
was just a thought of theirs. While cocaine does affect the metabolic system in
chronic cocaine users, the users have a better of excessive weight gain after
they come off of the drug because their body starts trying to adjust to losing
the metabolic system it had gotten use to.
The
skinny on cocaine: Insights into eating behavior and body weight in
cocaine-dependent men.
Appetite,
Vol 71, Dec 1 , 2013, 75-80. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2013.07.011
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