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Eating tomatoes 'turns kids into criminals'
The Observer [UK] ^ | February 23, 2003 | Jean West

Posted on 02/23/2003 7:00:33 AM PST by aculeus

Tomatoes don't agree with John. He is sick within an hour of eating them and becomes sweaty and panicky. But worse than this, they also make him irritable and aggressive and liable to commit violent crimes.

Jason has a similar reaction to bread. He has always loved doorsteps smothered in butter for breakfast. But it gives him diarrhoea and a weird kind of depressed 'hangover'. This makes him crave the heroin that once put his life on the skids.

It may sound implausible, but a controversial theory is gathering momentum: that one explanation for crime may be found on our dinner plates. The premise is that the brain needs the right fuel to function properly - otherwise it will misbehave.

This week, the first clinic in Britain to tackle juvenile delinquency by studying what children eat, then treating them with nutritional medicine and psychotherapy, will open its doors. Its consultant will be Peter Bennett, a former officer with West Yorkshire police.

The Cactus Clinic, at Teesside University in Middlesbrough, sprang from the work of the late Professor Steve Baldwin, who died in the Selby rail disaster, and Janice Hill, who runs the Overload Network, an Edinburgh-based charity for children with behavioural disorders.

Disturbed by a lack of alternatives to the throw-away-the-key approach to delinquency and the over-prescription of psychiatric drugs for children, they forged ahead with their maverick idea. The nutritional approach was based on a wealth of global research into the effects of vitamins, minerals and other compounds such as amino acids on brain chemistry.

Last year a study in the British Journal of Psychiatry suggested that reoffending by juvenile delinquents could be slashed by a quarter if they improved their diets. Some 230 inmates at the young offenders' institution in Aylesbury, Bucks, were assessed over 18 months by researchers from Oxford University. Half were given pills containing vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids, and the other half placebo capsules in a double-blind, randomised trial.

The first group committed 25 per cent fewer offences than the second. The greatest reduction was for serious offences, including violence, where there was a fall of nearly 40 per cent. There was no decline in reoffending for those taking dummy compounds.

But despite evidence that alternative treatments may work, society, mainstream medicine and the prison authorities remain unimpressed. 'It's a crazy notion that we can accept that 10 pints of beer - which, after all, is derived from wheat - can affect behaviour, but not other foodstuffs,' said Hill.

She said nutritional intervention was not a quick fix that promised a speedy improvement in mood, like the new generation of anti-depressants. It took weeks to build up a malnourished brain and programmes had to be tailor-made.

In many cases, it is difficult to pinpoint the offending food type. John, who became more aggressive after eating tomatoes, lacked an enzyme that detoxifies a compound found in tomatoes, consisting of salicylates. It is believed these caused a chemical reaction in his brain, which then affected his behaviour.

'The children we see have psychological problems linked to physical problems, often caused by nutritional deficiencies. Children should have access to basic tests that can quickly establish nutritional status rather than having their knuckles perpetually rapped,' said Hill.

Hill came across Peter Bennett when she saw a QED documentary about his work with young criminals in Yorkshire. They were assessed for nutritional shortfalls and food allergies and put on individual programmes to address their problems. Bennett was astonished by the changes he witnessed.

He stumbled upon the work of a number of nutritionists during a study sabbatical at Oxford University. Disappointed that the force did not take his findings more seriously, he quit his job and trained as a nutritionist. He continues to get remarkable results from his patients. 'One child has just been accepted back into mainstream school, which is significant because, once you are excluded, you are usually excluded for good,' he said.

Other possible explanations for violent outbursts that Bennett has investigated include blood sugar imbalances, often attributed to over-reliance on refined sugar. He has studied the effect of fluctuating blood sugar on women who have used the defence of PMT in murder trials. He says that, a few days before menstruation, the release of female hormones can wreak havoc with blood sugar.

'If women then eat something like a bar of chocolate or drink an alcoholic drink, it will boost them up very rapidly, but then they go crash because the blood sugar rush is quickly used up. This can provoke rage and violent outbursts.'

The problem is not confined to pre-menstrual women - teenagers of both sexes weaned on junk food diets whose hormones are just kicking in are prime candidates for hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar). Swapping simple sugars for more complex carbohydrates, such as bread, rice and pasta that don't spark the same glucose rush, offers a solution.

Hill, whose charity offers support to children with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) insists that many of their restless, agitated symptoms can be traced back to the foods they have eaten, and not just sugars and additives.

Her own daughter, Debbie, now 17, has suffered from ADHD since childhood and was both disruptive and aggressive. Hill swiftly identified the foods that knocked her off balance, which included apples and strawberries, and introduced a raft of supplements including high doses of vitamin C, B6 and zinc and essential fatty acids into her diet. She calmed down significantly.

Eat your way out of trouble

Zinc, found mainly in shellfish and green leafy vegetables, has a calming effect on the central nervous system. Deficiencies are common after the consumption of food and drinks containing tartrazine, a colouring known to disturb behaviour in some youngsters.

Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are well-known mood regulators and are especially calming for women with PMT. Their ability to balance hormones makes them particularly useful for teenagers.

B6 (pyridoxine) is important for normal brain function and is found in broccoli, lentils, bananas and nuts. Deficiency symptoms include hyper- irritability, depression, fatigue and learning difficulties.

Calcium and magnesium are natural tranquillisers. They help to relieve anxiety and nervousness, tantrums and depression and have been used to combat aggression. They are found in dairy foods, fish and green leafy vegetables.

B5 (pantothenic acid) is known as the anti-stress vitamin and is involved in the production of neurotransmitters in the brain that regulate mood. It is found in eggs, kidneys, mushrooms and pork.

· The Cactus Clinic can be contacted on 0131 555 4967.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Front Page News; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: agriculture; animalhusbandry; crime; criminaldefense; dietandcuisine; droptheketchup; huntergatherers; junkscience; kids; tomatoes; whowritesthiscrap
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1 posted on 02/23/2003 7:00:33 AM PST by aculeus
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To: aculeus
The "Twinkie Defense" writ large.
2 posted on 02/23/2003 7:06:32 AM PST by snopercod
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To: snopercod
When my son was about 3 years old, we found out that the sodium in hotdogs and lunch meats made his behaviour very bad. Once we took him off that stuff, he was fine. The doctor we saw said this was common.

And now he's 16 and ranked first academically in his high-school class, so something must have worked.

3 posted on 02/23/2003 7:09:44 AM PST by Bernard
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To: aculeus
For me it was always artichoke hearts and peas (peas to this very day). I haven't eaten peas since I got big enough to fight back.
4 posted on 02/23/2003 7:10:15 AM PST by stevem
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To: aculeus
This "defense" of non-social actions is just an excuse..substances may may you anti-social but, it's discipline and responsibility for "actions" that is the crux of the argument....

as one reader put it...and he's right, "the tomato-twinkie" defense will be here one day.
5 posted on 02/23/2003 7:14:58 AM PST by GreenCell
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To: aculeus
I didn't have to read the article. I already saw the movie:

Can you believe this movie celebrated its 25th anniversary last year? Man, I'm gettin' old.

6 posted on 02/23/2003 7:15:00 AM PST by P.O.E. (Liberate Iraq!)
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To: aculeus
This article is a victory for the "bananas" industry.
7 posted on 02/23/2003 7:17:33 AM PST by thisiskubrick (may the running liberal pig-dogs be turned into bbq toasties in the sea of fire)
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To: aculeus
I have a friend who believes all this stuff. She obsesses about the ingredients in everything from her food to her toothpaste and laundry soap, and is convinced she and her children are 'allergic' to nearly everything. She says stuff like "Junior is allergic to tomatos and pickles. They make him hyperactive". If a child has a bad day, it must have been because he ate an unauthorized cookie somewhere.

Though I think we are what we eat, and I have no basis to argue with her, I know that she and her kids are always sick, and I (who eats nothing but junk food or whatever else is around) have not been sick in years. I don't know which came first, the obsession with ingredients or the constant illnesses, but she is, nevertheless, a hypocondriac.
8 posted on 02/23/2003 7:23:00 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
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To: aculeus
Politically correct "science" will lead nowhere.
9 posted on 02/23/2003 7:25:19 AM PST by LibWhacker
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To: Bernard
Question? How do you eat a "doorstep"? Even smothered in butter it must be kinda hard to go down.
10 posted on 02/23/2003 7:28:07 AM PST by dvan
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To: aculeus
burp
11 posted on 02/23/2003 7:30:58 AM PST by facedown (Armed in the Heartland)
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To: Bernard
Bernard, I fear you have not given yourself due credit for the love, concern, and effort that you likely poured into the raising of this child!
12 posted on 02/23/2003 7:34:18 AM PST by DC native
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To: dvan; MadIvan

All references I have found call it a type of a large sandwich, made with a long loaf of bread. In their parlance, it seems to connote something large:


"The (reports) that cross my desk are certainly as big a doorstep sandwich, and must consume a lot of planning officers' time and council tax payers' money."


"It is important not to be intimidated by such terms, especially if you view 'theology' as a subject which is beyond you, something only done by people who can read books thicker than a doorstep sandwich!"

13 posted on 02/23/2003 7:43:48 AM PST by Cultural Jihad
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To: aculeus
I never have liked tomatoes. Now I have a legitimate excuse for not eating them.
14 posted on 02/23/2003 7:46:09 AM PST by Tennessee_Bob (a new Royal Family, a wild nobility, we are the family)
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To: aculeus
Since all the bad foods were veggies it does go a long way to explain the actions of PETA.
15 posted on 02/23/2003 7:46:42 AM PST by KeyWest
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To: dvan
Question? How do you eat a "doorstep"?


The same way you eat "$h*t on a shingle". One bite at a time!
16 posted on 02/23/2003 7:50:32 AM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar
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To: aculeus
I KNEW IT! Anything with inards as slimy as tomatoes must be evil.
17 posted on 02/23/2003 7:52:07 AM PST by rintense (Go Get 'Em Dubya!)
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To: rintense
Didn't early Americans think
tomatoes were poison?
18 posted on 02/23/2003 8:00:45 AM PST by HuntsvilleTxVeteran (Anything from ABCNNBCBS is suspect!)
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To: Bernard
When my son was about 3 years old, we found out that the sodium in hotdogs and lunch meats made his behaviour very bad.

Are you sure it wasn't the cockroaches and mouse feces?

19 posted on 02/23/2003 8:04:06 AM PST by snopercod
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To: aculeus
The high glycemic load of the government recomended diet will be found responsible for a huge part of mental and physical illness. Just eat your 15 servings of grain and become diabetic and depressed.
20 posted on 02/23/2003 8:05:34 AM PST by Nov3 (Going to war without France is like going hunting without an accordion!)
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