European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

YOU MAY BE WHAT YOU EAT, SO CAN YOU BE VIOLENT DUE TO YOUR FOOD?

*Yu Du

ABSTRACT

Research that supports the relationship between nutrition and violence becomes more popular recently. Previous researches mainly explore the impact of specific micronutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acid on violence, aggression, and antisocial behaviors. However, few studies focus on the influence of dieting patterns and certain type of food on violent behaviors. Does the quote ―you may be what you eat‖ hold true in terms of violence? This paper investigates whether people may become more violent due to their food choice. The result indicates that consumptions of certain food, such as junk food (westernized diet), coffee, soda, and chocolates, can be associated with increased violence by negatively affecting brain development, neurochemical metabolism, few or no beneficial nutrients absorption, and ineffective communication among neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and dopamine. Additionally, this paper suggests people’s daily dieting patterns and invisible food sensitivity, such as intolerance to milk and natural salicylates, tend to be associated with more violent behaviors. Therefore, nutritional reforms by replacing potential violence-induced food with beneficial food at schools, companies, and prisons are feasible and promising to prevent violence and intervene antisocial behaviors.

Keywords: Violence, brain development, nutrition, criminology, diet, antisocial behavior.