Works like fentanyl

Woman went to rehab for cheese addiction

Adela Cojab had to have her cheese addiction treated in a rehab clinic.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/instagram/adelacojab, stock.adobe.com)

A student from New York has reportedly sought treatment in a rehab clinic for her addiction to cheese. "It was the only thing that made me feel somewhat whole," says Adela Cojab, describing her unusual craving. A doctor confirms that cheese contains opiate-like ingredients and can therefore "easily make people addicted".

Cojab told the New York Post about her unusual vice. The addiction developed at the beginning of her studies. In order to be able to afford her excesses, she bought the "cheapest" pieces of cheddar and parmesan every day. She often did not even use cutlery, but scooped up the dairy products with her bare hands. She often ate the cheese alone on the floor of her apartment in the dark.

Woman justifies consumption "like addicts do"
In addition to masses of cheese, she also devoured Parmesan potato chips. To alleviate her unbalanced diet, she often resolved to eat just one salad. But she ended up eating cheese again, "with salad on the side", says the 27-year-old. "I kept telling myself that it was actually cheaper to just buy a few blocks of cheese," says the student. "I convinced myself that I was making an economically sensible decision, like addicts try to justify."

The student from New York can be seen in this article - after undergoing therapy, she lost the kilos she had put on due to her cheese addiction:

Rehab stay cost 6000 dollars a week
When she put on 20 kilograms, stopped menstruating and was at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes, her mother intervened and advised her to seek treatment. She ended up checking into Hilton Head Health in South Carolina for two weeks to regain control of her eating disorder. The stay there costs around 6000 dollars per week. There she learned to eat more healthily. 

Doctor: Cheese has a similar effect to fentanyl 
The physician Neal Barnard, who wrote the book "Get Out of the Cheese Trap", explained to the New York Post why people can become addicted to cheese: The protein casein, which can make people addicted, is to blame. "Cheese contains opiate chemicals that dock to the same brain receptors as fentanyl or any other narcotic," Barnard said. That's why "some people refer to cheese as 'milk crack'".

By taking Ozempic, which she was prescribed because of the risk of diabetes, the young US American's kilos quickly tumbled. However, she has not completely given up cheese: "When I'm really stressed, I eat a block of cheese, but that doesn't happen very often," she explains. These days, she would rather go for a "lighter" mozzarella than a Vermont cheddar or Parmesan.