Homicidal? Could Be Your Diet...

FM Staff

Can food affect mood? A couple of recent books suggest it does. The Food-Mood Solution by Jack Challem and The Good Mood Diet by Susan Kleiner and Bob Condor both advance what is essentially the theory behind the infamous "Twinkie Defense." That was made famous when the man who shot and killed San Francisco's mayor in 1978 successfully claimed that a junk food diet contributed to the mood swing that prompted the crime. It helped get the charge reduced to manslaughter and forever enshrined the "Twinkie Defense" in legal lore.

The recent books' argument is similar: simple carbohydrates and excessive fats in the typical American diet short-circuit neutrotransmitters in the brain that govern mood. When combined with normal, everyday stress, the result is grumpy, fatigued, depressed Americans, though not necessarily homicidal maniacs.

So the next time you get road rage, snap at your spouse or send a snarky e-mail, blame the morning doughnuts or last night's supreme nacho platter.

As for those of you eating healthy...well, you have no excuse. Shame on you.