It has been about two months since the tragic murders at Columbine High
School in our suburb and we have heard psychologists, teachers, politicians,
crime experts, children and many others presenting their opinions of why a
dreadful crime could have been perpetrated by school children.
Obviously I could not have heard all the contributors to these discussions,
but I was wondering if anyone had raised the issue of nutritional factors as
one of the possible contributory factors in this crime. Certainly in trying
to decipher the nature of complex and complicated human behaviour, it would
be overly simplistic to blame any single factor, just as it is overly
simplistic to blame a single cardiac risk factor for causing coronary heart
disease.
Initially it might sound a bit far-fetched to suggest that faulty nutritional
habits could be one of the factors involved in leading to that horrendous
event, but before we dismiss such a notion at the outset, let us examine some
research which may have a bearing on the issue:
1. In the 1980s, hardened juvenile delinquents at a detention facility in
Virginia were fed a balanced diet low in sugar and chemical additives for two
years instead of the typical fast food, low nutrient diet characteristic of
those age groups. Over the duration of that study, theft decreased by 77%,
hyperactivity by 65% and insubordination by 55% (Schoenthaler S “Diet and
Crime: An empirical examination of the value of nutrition in the control and
treatment of incarcerated juvenile offenders’ Intern J of Biosocial
Research 1983, 4(1): 25-39). The same researcher elaborated on this study in
the next issue of that journal: ‘Types of Offenses which can be reduced in an
Institutional Setting using Nutritional Intervention - A Preliminary
Empirical Evaluation. 1983, 4(2): 74-84.
2. Several other studies using diets with low sugar and no chemical
additives for a total of over 8000 youths in 12 juvenile correctional
facilities reduced deviant behaviour by 47% (Schoenthaler S “Institutional
Nutritional Policies and Criminal Behavior’ Nutrition Today 1985, 20(3) :
16)
3. In Los Angeles juvenile detention facilities, similar diets administered
to nearly 1500 adolescents reduced problem behaviour and suicide attempts by
44% (Schoenthaler S ‘ The Los Angeles Probation Department Diet Behavior
Program: An Empirical Evaluation of Six Institutions’ Intern J of Biosocial
Research 1983, 5(2): 88-98
4. The Lancet reported that 79% of children diagnosed as being hyperactive
improved when dubious foods were removed from their diets, but deteriorated
as soon as these additives and suspect foods were reintroduced. The worst
offenders were identified as artificial colourants and flavourings, with
sugar also having a significant effect (Egger J et al ‘Controlled Trial of
Oligoantigenic Treatment in the Hyperkinetic Syndrome’ Lancet 1985: 540)
5. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study in the 1979 Journal of
Biological Psychiatry showed that large doses of vitamin B6 was more
effective than Ritalin in reducing hyperactivity in children (cited by Autism
Research Institute, San Diego, June 1992 - see their website:
http://www.autism.com/ari/ which also reports on the possible role for
magnesium, vit C and DMG in treating autism).
6. In a 4 year study (1979-1983), considerable improvement in academic
performance of over 1 million children at 803 public schools in New York city
took place when only the at-schoolmeals were altered to eliminate artificial
additives and reduce sugar, while adding fresh fruits, vegetables, whole
grains and more plant-based proteins (Schoenthaler S ‘The Impact of a low
food additive and sucrose diet on Academic Performance in New York Public
Schools’ Intern J of Biosocial Research 1986 8(2): 182-195
Besides the implications for the behaviour of children, these studies and
many others indicate that it is not simply narcotics, stimulants, hormones,
LSD and other obviously psychoactive drugs which may modify one’s
psychological state, but even ones which are far more subtle and which are
associated with our normal modern eating habits. Extrapolating this directly
to the world of sport, let us for a moment shift aside our current
preoccupation with the physiological effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids
(AAS), prohormones, ephedra, caffeine, energy replacement drinks and other
substances which are popularly researched in sponsored studies, and ask if
sufficient attention is being focused on the psychological effects of these
drugs, as well as other constituents of one’s normal daily diet, insofar as
this may affect sporting performance.
Dr Mel C Siff
Denver, USA
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