Chemicals in Food Make People Violent?

In 1979, a man named Dan White received a lesser punishment for murdering his colleagues, because prior to the murders he had consumed large quantities of processed and sugary foods. It was argued that this caused him to become violent and incapable of rational thought. The judge and jury bought it, and it became known as the Twinkie defense, which I always thought was laughable – until I understood how the body works.

In 2009, I’d like to propose the Lifetime of Poor Eating and General Overload of Chemicals in the Body defense. Not because it’s a defense I’d like to see in court, but because I actually think it speaks to an underlying truth about most violent crimes and criminals. Let me explain…

When looking at violent crimes and criminals, the perpetrator’s past is often analyzed. And true, often times the present criminal was also a victim, but not always. The socio-economic status is also often viewed, and let’s be honest, there are neighborhoods we’re all little afraid to go in after dark – often even the people who live there. And there is no doubt that poverty can induce a state of helplessness which is often a factor in crime.

But one thing we’re missing, and I think it may be one of the most important factors – is the state of the perpetrator’s body. And often, (but not always) I think this is directly tied to socio-economic status. I’ll explain, but to understand, you’ll need to know about the role of the liver in the human body.

Our liver is our prime detoxification organ. It’s the organ largely responsible for detoxifying all of the incoming chemicals from foods and lifestyle habits. Of course, the number of incoming chemicals jumps astronomically with diets that regularly include junk foods, processed foods, and fast foods – which I’m going to argue are common in areas with high crime, and with the majority of violent criminals.

The number of incoming chemicals also skyrockets with habits such as smoking and drug use, and even by using low quality, highly chemical personal care products. Many of these habits and product choices are also common in low socio-economic areas and with violent criminals.

The number of incoming chemicals decreases considerably with the regular consumption of organic, unprocessed foods from nature, but I’m going to argue that such foods often aren’t on the plates of violent criminals, or unfortunately on the tables in many low socio-economic areas. I’m going to argue that more of their food comes from a bag, box, can, or a fast food window – as opposed to a tree or plant that hasn’t been sprayed repeatedly with pesticides.

This is important because despite popular belief that we’re immune to all of these common chemicals, our bodies disagree. And despite popular understanding, these chemicals can absolutely build in the body over time and stay there, until a concerted effort is undergone to get them out.

By this point, you may understand that highly processed, junk food, and fast food diets require a tremendous amount of detoxification and work from our liver. An abnormal amount really. Many common diets and lifestyles habits actually put our livers in a state of continual overload. This is a place where you’re lucky if your liver can render harmless and eliminate a fraction of the number of incoming chemicals. Diets heavy on junk foods, processed foods, and fast foods take this general overburdening to an extreme level. These diet and lifestyle habits create a toxic liver and body that is overwhelmed with toxic chemicals.

In addition to the fact that these chemicals in our bodies effect our brains and emotional systems, there is another and very important reason why highly chemical diets and lifestyles are related to crime.

The reason is that different emotions are related to different organs. And the emotion related to an overworked, toxic liver is anger. Truly, the more overwhelmed your liver is, the more likely you are to be angry or to have problems controlling your anger. From that point, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out or understand that people with a higher degree or intensity of anger, are more apt to become violent.

Personally, I wonder if what we need instead of prisons are some really thorough detoxification centers to get these people back to a state of body that doesn’t induce anger and violence. In addition, I believe that laws prohibiting the use of chemicals in our foods and eliminating many of chemicals in personal care products would drastically reduce many common problems society has – both health and violence related. I think we’d have far better results than with any of the options we’re playing around with.