In this month's Food Technology (October, 2014), the feature article A Diet for a Kinder Planet lays out some of the research that indicated a link between poor nutrition and bad behavior.
It states that omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, zinc and tryptophan may be essential for mental balance. These are often lacking in the diets of children. Because of this, they suggest that be a cause of antisocial behavior.
The omega-3 fatty acids an important component in brain tissue (considering the 60% of the brain's composition is fat....I guess it is not bad to be called a fat head). "In particular, the omega-3 fatty acid docasohexaenoic acid (DHA) makes up a significant proportion of nerve-cell membranes and synapse in the central nervous system.." One of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids is fish.
The article admits that the studies to this point only demonstrate a positive correlation and do not indicate causation. This is an interesting read.
Food Technology (October, 2014)
http://www.ift.org/food-technology/past-issues/2014/october/features/a_diet_for_a_kinder_planet.aspx?page=viewall
A Diet for a Kinder Planet Toni Tarver | October 2014, Volume 68, No.10
Considered essential for good health, a wholesome diet and good nutrition may also help improve the behavior and mood of society at large.
Good nutrition is a prerequisite for proper development of the human body after conception, and it is considered a crucial factor in the prevention of chronic disease. It is widely accepted that cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and other manifestations of chronic inflammation can be controlled or averted with a nutritious diet. Consequently, the food and nutrition policies of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and other wealthy countries have focused almost exclusively on how diet affects physical well-being, recommending proper caloric and nutrient intakes for a healthy heart and healthy teeth, bones, and weight. However, these policies make little or no reference to the human brain, which is the most complex part of the body.
The brain regulates the functioning of vital bodily organs, is the center for intelligence and emotional response, and consumes approximately 20% of the body’s caloric energy. The brain is also responsible for the expression of personality, mood, and behavior—all of which define humanity. Yet wealthy countries with diverse and extensive food and nutrition policies focused on healthy bodily functions and physical well-being have largely ignored the importance of proper brain function and behavioral well-being. As a consequence, Westernized countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom have experienced a precipitous rise in aggression, irritability, impulsivity, and other antisocial behaviors. Are these displays simply a consequence of the extensive free will enjoyed by Americans, Britons, and others, or is something else at play? A fascinating field of research suggests that depression, aggression, impulsivity, and other displays of antisocial behavior may be the result of nutrient deficiencies in the brain and that certain foods and the nutrients they contain may curtail the expression of antisocial behavior.
The notion that improper nutrition, not accountability and free will, may be responsible for the poor moods and behaviors people exhibit may seem unorthodox, but it is not a novel concept. For decades, scientists, clinicians, and mental health professionals have known that inadequate nutrition has a profound influence on neurocognitive development and mental health. In 1942 physician Hugh Sinclair advised the British government to supplement children’s diets with cod liver oil and orange juice, speculating that a nutrient-poor diet would lead to antisocial behavior (Regoli et al., 2014). In 1968, renowned chemist Linus Pauling unveiled a paper on orthomolecular psychiatry, in which he discussed the effects of micronutrient deficiency on mental health and advocated for the use of vitamins and minerals to treat mental illness (LPI, 2008). And in the late 19th century, well before Sinclair and Pauling, Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso proposed that the aggressive tactics of terrorists were the result of nutritional deficiencies (Bohannon, 2009). The diet-mind connection encompasses not only the onset and severity of mental illness but also the expression of personality, mood, and behavior. For example, some people experience a sense of euphoria while eating chocolate while others feel safe, secure, and comforted while digging into a bowl of macaroni and cheese.
Beyond the temporary mood boosts experienced by people consuming their favorite foods, studies indicate that specific nutrients are crucial for the maintenance of peak brain performance. Throughout history, researchers have found nutrient deficiencies in people afflicted with mental illness and, more recently, in those exhibiting antisocial behavior. People experiencing depression have consistently been shown to be deficient in B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, and zinc. Individuals exhibiting irritability are commonly deficient in B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, and magnesium. In addition, impulsive, aggressive, and even violent behaviors have consistently been shown to be associated with deficiencies in several nutrients, including magnesium, zinc, B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, and tryptophan (which is the dietary precursor to serotonin—a chemical in the brain that helps regulate body temperature, attention, and behavior) (Gesch et al., 2002; Conklin et al., 2007; Seo and Patrick, 2008). Studies have even indicated that pronounced hypoglycemia is often present in individuals exhibiting antisocial behavior (Benton, 2007).
Fatty Acids and Aggression
It therefore seems that sufficient amounts of B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, and tryptophan may be essential for mental balance. The dietary sources of these nutrients are green leafy vegetables, eggs, fruits, fish and seafood, nuts and legumes, and whole grains. These nutrient-dense whole foods are abundantly available to consumers of Westernized diets, yet Western countries have high rates of bullying, depression, deception, public temper outbursts, disregard for laws, and other elements of antisocial behavior ranging from careless to rude to criminal. Psychiatrist and physician Joseph Hibbeln, a clinical investigator specializing in nutritional neuroscience with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, has promulgated a possible reason for this incongruity. According to Hibbeln, significant changes in industrialized food production have caused a sweeping shift in the composition of Western diets. In particular, Hibbeln believes that heavy reliance on producing foods with industrial vegetable oils containing only or mostly omega-6 fatty acids (for example, corn, cottonseed, safflower, and soybean oils) have disrupted the brain’s level of essential omega-3 fatty acids. In addition, alcoholic beverages, which have become ubiquitous at nearly all Western social gatherings, also deplete the brain of omega-3 fatty acids.
A switch in dietary fatty-acid consumption may seem difficult to accept as a valid cause of antisocial behavior, but a brief review of the brain’s anatomy and biochemistry provides compelling context. Nearly two-thirds (60%) of the brain’s composition is fat, of which most are two types of essential fatty acids: omega-3 and omega-6. In particular, the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) makes up a significant proportion of nerve-cell membranes and synapses in the central nervous system; it is the most abundant fatty acid in the brain. Two other omega-3s, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), also play important roles in the brain’s anatomy and function. In Western diets, there are numerous dietary food sources of ALA and the omega-6 fatty acids linoleic acid (vegetable oils) and arachidonic acid (dairy, eggs, meat) but only one dietary food source of DHA and EPA: seafood. If a person does not consume enough DHA and EPA through dietary intake, the body can convert ALA to EPA and subsequently to DHA, but the process is inefficient and the conversion rate is poor (Bradbury, 2011). As a consequence, a typical Western diet contains 14 to 25 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids, which is not ideal (UMMC, 2013).
An ideal dietary ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids ranges from 1:1 to 5:1. When these ratios are exceeded, chronic inflammation as well as a variety of physical and mental problems can occur as omega-6 fatty acids are pro-inflammatory and omega-3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory (Bradbury, 2011; Patterson et al., 2012). The Western diet’s shift over the past 50 years from an emphasis on whole foods and monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats to an emphasis on processed foods and saturated and trans fats has radically increased the dietary consumption of omega-6 fatty acids. In the human brain, omega-6 fatty acids compete with omega-3 fatty acids for the same metabolic pathways, and Hibbeln, along with other scientists, believes that when this occurs, the body fails to convert ALA to EPA and DHA (Blasbalg et al., 2011). This leads to the body’s use of the wrong type of fatty acids—omega-6s—to form nerve-cell membranes and improper functioning of the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin. A dysfunctional (i.e., exaggerated) dopamine response system causes an elevated response to an anticipated reward, and low serotonin levels are a biomarker for increased risk of impulsivity, aggression, depression, and suicide. A reduced or nonexistent capacity to control one’s impulses to act on intense emotions in an aggressive or otherwise inhospitable way has proven to be a key characteristic of antisocial behavior (Conklin et al., 2007; Hart, 2008; Seo and Patrick, 2008; Monahan et al., 2009).
Research indicates that the earlier deficits in omega-3 fatty acids occur during brain development, the greater the expression of antisocial behavior. In fact, children deprived of a sufficient amount of omega-3 fatty acids from the time they are in the womb through the first few years of life will experience permanent deleterious changes to their brains (Liu et al., 2004; Lawrence, 2006; FHF, 2007). Hibbeln is convinced that the changes in essential fatty acid ratios caused by the mass industrialization of the Western diet constitute “a very large uncontrolled experiment that may have contributed to the societal burden of aggression, depression, and cardiovascular death” (Lawrence, 2006).
Meanness and Micronutrient Deficiencies
Acknowledging that omega-3 fatty acids are an important part of proper brain development and functioning, other researchers maintain that a combination of deficiencies in other key micronutrients as well as omega-3s could be responsible for antisocial behavior. A study by the University of Southern California (USC) suggests that deficiencies in zinc, B vitamins, iron, and certain amino acids (e.g., tryptophan) lead to lower intelligence and higher amounts of antisocial behavior. Specifically, USC researchers found that compared to children without nutrient deficiencies, malnourished children displayed a 41% increase in irritability and aggression at age 8, a 10% increase in aggression and delinquency at age 11, and a 51% increase in violence and other antisocial behavior at age 17 (Liu et al., 2004).
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http://www.ift.org/food-technology/past-issues/2014/october/features/a_diet_for_a_kinder_planet.aspx?page=viewall
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