Chocoholism

Chocoholic is a portmanteau of "chocolate" and "alcoholic," referring to an alleged addiction to chocolate. (Cf. "workaholic".)
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
**alcohol meaning "fine powder" was borrowed from the Arabic al-kuhul.
**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. Thus there has been a semantic shift from a word signifying a bitter beverage (similar to coffee) to a sweet candy.
Chemistry
Chocolate contains a variety of substances. These include:
* Sugar - Sweet chocolate (as opposed to chocolate liquor) 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.
Possible effects
Chocoholism, if maintained, may result in over-consumption of chocolate, which may cause high blood-sugar levels and possibly obesity.

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