Addicted to Your Latte? Scientists Reveal the Truth Behind Coffee Cravings

Coffee has naturally occurring opioid particles in it that are stronger than morphine, Brazilian researchers have discovered.

MOSCOW, January 25 (Sputnik) — Coffee has effects similar to that of morphine, researchers at the University of Brasilia (UnB) and the state-owned Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation Embrapa have discovered, according to AFP.

According to Spanish news agency EFE, the researchers at Embrapa's genetics and biotech division, together UnB scientists with have "identified previously unknown fragments of protein — peptides — in coffee that have an effect similar to morphine, in other words they have an analgesic and sedative activity."

Tests on laboratory mice showed that the opioid molecules found in coffee had a longer-lasting effect on mice than actual morphine, according to AFP.

The molecules' discovery came through the work of Felipe Vinecky, a doctoral researcher at UnB, who is looking to improve the quality of the grain through the combination of genes, according to EFE.

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