- 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.
- Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited
- http://www.observer.co.uk
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