Just Wondering: Did Sugary Foods Such As Twinkies Play An Unwitting Role in the Tragic Virginia Tech Shootings?

Clearly, the horrific shootings at Virginia Tech are weighing heavily on people's minds this week. So incredibly tragic and agonizingly painful. My heart goes out to those poor families of those 32 students who unnecessarily died.

Of course, I could be completely off base here, but I just can't help but wonder: What kinds of foods was this hostile, angry, distraught Cho Seung Hui eating on a regular basis before he mercilessly gunned down innocent fellow students?

I certainly mean no disrespect, but this subject is gnawing at me. Think about it. Students at colleges typically eat lots of sugary cereals, as well as chips, candies and refined carbs. What's more, they often chug down lots of soda.

If you think this is all a stretch, you should know that extensive research shows a link between consuming sugary junk foods and violence or criminal behavior.

With sadness in my heart, I find myself speculating: Was this evidently mentally unhinged Hui hooked on sugary foods such as Twinkies as was former San Francisco supervisor Dan White, who back in 1978 assassinated Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk?

In fact, as both Wikipedia and Snopes.com tells us, the junk-food dependent White received a controversial verdict, which led to the coining of the often-derided and much-misunderstood "twinkie defense." (White was ultimately convicted of manslaughter rather than of murder.)

Many in the legal community think that citing excessive sugar consumption as a potential reason for violent behavior is absolute bunk. In fact, the phrase "Twinkie defense," according to Snopes.com "came to represent the efforts of criminals to avoid responsibility for their actions by claiming that some external force beyond their control had caused them to act the way they had, and it arose from the successful defense mounted by White's legal team that White's eating of Twinkies and other sugar-laden junk foods had diminished his mental capacity."

Anyhow, I'm not saying that there's a connection here to the Virginia Tech shootings, but I feel that it's an angle worth exploring. If it turns out that Hui was eating nutrient-deprived foods, we could get an even clearer glimpse into his befuddled mind.

You see, most people do not know that a poor diet could, in fact, play a role in criminal behavior. But it does, as I point out in my book SUGAR SHOCK! If you don't believe me, check out Chapter 11, which is entitled, "Sweets Can Sour Your Moods."

For instance, in my book, I include quotes from psychologist Alex Schauss, Ph.D., who has conducted nuemerous studies on the relationship between crime, sugar and delinquent behavior. He even penned the once-controversial book, Diet, Crime and Delinquency.

For SUGAR SHOCK!, I also talked with former Ohio probation officer Barbara Reed Stitt, Ph.D. The author of Food and Behavior used to work with bitter, depressed, angry deliquents, who lived on nutrient-lacking foods such as donuts, pastries, white breads, pasta, canned goods, candy, gallons of coffee and other junk foods.

Both Dr. Schauss and Dr. Stitt found that when aggressive offenders quit eating these culprit-carb foods, , their behavior completely changed. For instance, Dr. Stitt -- who worked with probationers on a judge's order -- banned sugar, white-flour products, chemical additives, caffeine, and alcohol from their diets. Amazingly, 80 percent of the probationers she helped went on to become "productive members of society," she told me.

Meanwhile, I also learned about further research from Finland, which revealed that the blood sugar levels of violent offenders and aggressive students tended to drop quickly after eating carbohydrates.

And further research in the Amerian Journal of Psychiatry showed that chidlren with nutritional deficiencies become more aggressive as they grow older.

And the research I cited is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

Again, please bear in mind that I'm not drawing any conclusions here. I'm just curious. Clearly, Hui had major psychological problems, which an English teacher even observed as early as a couple of years ago.

But I'd like to suggest that reporters covering this Virginia Tech nightmare start asking some questions about his diet, too. 

By the way, I invite you to read my other post, in which I give you a link to a fascinating column my colleague Mike Adams wrote, in which he wondered if antidepressants may have had a role in this horrific massacre.

Comments

[Dr. Ann Blake Tracy]

Every last one of that long long list of cases of violence and suicide was taken directly from my book, Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? - Our Serotonin Nightmare. I personally investigated every case mentioned. We have recently began posting yet another more complete list of cases at www.ssristories.com. What people need to understand about antidepressants is that they produce hypoglycemia, as does sugar. But controlling sugar levels on an antidepressant is very difficult. We already know that 80% of those incarcerated for violent crimes are hypoglycemic so why should we be surprised to learn that drugs that chemically induce this would lead to violence? The science is clear and well documented. Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, Executive Director, International Coalition for Drug Awareness www.drugawareness.org

[Kelly Young]

But how does that explain all the productive members of society who consume boatloads of junk food? Note from Connie: Good point. Well, the thing is that we're all biochemically different, and not everyone is affected in the same way by consuming a lot of sugar. Some people just become tired. Some people gain weight. Others become moody. Still others become angry or possibly violent. FYI, I discuss this in my book SUGAR SHOCK!

[Jean Marc]

Fantastic article. Do you have any references on research on this subject ?

[Suzy Hamilton]

Sugar certainly is something to watch out for. Please consider, as well, the common denominator here: Cho Seung-Hui, the shooter, was on psychiatric drugs. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Public Health Advisory of March 22, 2004 identified the side effects of SSRI antidepressants, as: “Anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, impulsivity, akathisia (severe restlessness), and mania (psychosis), have been reported in adult and pediatric patients being treated with antidepressants.” SSRI antidepressants have documented side effects of suicide, mania, psychosis, aggression and hostility. There are numerous incidents to illustrate the point, most are never publicized. Here are the very few which were: Eric Harris, 18, on Luvox, with his friend Dylan Klebold, killed 12 classmates and a teacher at Columbine High School, before taking his own life. The coroner confirmed that toxicology reports showed Luvox in his system. Dylan Klebold's autopsy was never made public. Christopher Pittman, on Zoloft, killed his grandparents. Adrea Yates, on Effexor and Remeron-Effexor, drowned her five small children in the bathtub. Princess Diana, on Prozac, and Dodi Fayed died in the car crash driven by their driver Henri Paul, on Prozac. Chris Farley, on Prozac, had a Prozac-induced heart attack. Mrs. Phil Hartman, on Zoloft, killed her husband. A wrongful death court case was filed and settled by the Zoloft manufacturer. T.J. Soloman, 15, on a mix of antidepressants, shot and wounded 6 classmates. Jim McDougal, on Prozac, Clinton's ex-partner, died of a Prozac-induced heart attack after his dosage was increased to 60 mg in prison. Shawn Cooper, 15, on a mix of antidepressants, fired two shotgun rounds on students and school staff. Kip Kinkel, 15, on Prozac and Ritalin withdrawal, killed his parents and 2 classmates, wounding 22. Jeremy Strahmeyer, on Dexedrine, raped and murdered a 7-year-old girl in a ladies restroom in a Las Vegas casino. Jason Hoffman, 18, on Effexor and Celexa, opened fire at his high school, wounding 5. Elizabeth Bush, on Paxil, responsible for a school shooting in Pennsylvania. Cory Baadesgaard, 16, on Paxil and Effexor, took a rifle to his high school and held 23 classmates and a teacher hostage. Chris Shanahan, on Paxil, killed a woman. Chris Fetters, on Prozac, killed her favorite aunt. Matt Miller, on Prozac, hung himself in his bedroom closet after only 6 days on Zoloft. Seth Privacky, on Wellbutrin, shot his grandfather, parents, brother and brother's girlfriend while celebrating Thanksgiving. Jarred Viktor, on Paxil, stabbed his grandmother 61 times, He took Paxil five days. Jeff Franklin, on Prozac and Ritalin, killed his parents as they came home from work. He used a sledge hammer, hatchet, butcher knife and mechanic's file, then attacked his younger brothers and sister. Sergi Babarin's, on SSRI withdrawal, Salt Lake Family History Library shooting left three dead. Matthew Beck, on Luvox, left five dead and killed himself. Edward Leary, on Prozac, was involved in the New York City Subway bombing. Nick Mansies, on Paxil, was convicted of killing a little boy who was selling cookies door-to-door. Dana Sue Gray, on Paxil, killed several elderly people. Officer Stephen Christian, on Prozac, ran into a police substation shooting at fellow officers and was killed. A wrongful death case was settled by the makers of Prozac. David Rothman, on Prozac, killed two co-workers and himself at the Department of Agriculture in Ingelwood, CA. Williams Evans, on Zoloft, shot a co-worker at Columbus, Ohio Bureau of Employment Services, then himself. Marilyn Lemak, on Zoloft, killed her three children. Christopher Vasquez, on Zoloft, butchered Michael McMorrow in Central Park. Michael Lubrecht, on Effexor, drowned his own child. Paul Marsh, on Paxil, killed his best friend. Megan Hogg, on Prozac, killed her three little girls and attempted suicide. Vera Espinoza, on Prozac, shot her small son and daughter, then herself. Mr. Cunningham, on Prozac, axed his wife and daughter to death. Margaret Kastanis, on Prozac, killed her three children, then stabbed herself to death. Larramie Huntzinger, on Zoloft, ran his car into three young girls, killing two. Mary Hinkelman, on Prozac, shot her two small daughters and her sister before shooting herself. Lisa Fox, on Prozac, shot her small son and her dog before shooting herself. Dr. Debra Green, on Prozac, set her home on fire, killing her children. Lauri Dann, on Anafranil, shot seven children in an elementary school classroom, killing one. Donald Schell, on Paxil, shot his wife, daughter and baby grand-daughter, then himself after taking Paxil two days. In June 2001, the Paxil manufacturer was found guilty of this murder/suicide and ordered to pay $6.4 million. Gloria B., on Prozac, killed her sleeping 17-year-old son with a sledge-hammer before she attempted suicide. Larry Buttz, on Prozac, superintendent of schools, shot his wife, son and daughter, then himself. Michael McDermott shot seven co-workers in Wakefield shortly after his anti-depressant medication was increased. Julie Woodward, on Zoloft, took her own life 7 days after the first tablet. Rebecca Riley, on Seroquel, Depakote, and Clonidine, died at the age of 4. When I was going to school, no one ever imagined violence in schools. Now we are accepting it as part of life. Evil isn't easy to confront. Note from Connie: Wow! Where did you get this very convincing information? Did you see the column by Mike Adams to which I referred, which also cites antidepressants as playing a role in the shootings?

[Pat]

These were my thoughts as well, but I was afraid to voice them, thinking I'd gone overboard. But as we keep feeding our youth poisons and drugs, this country may be going in the wrong direction in trying to remedy crime.