| Seafood Prevents Murder
Almost ever prison movie ever made shows scene of violent prisoners protesting bad food by banging tin cups on the bars. Prison food is notoriously poor because cash-strapped governments try to cut costs by serving inexpensive, low-quality, nutritionally poor food. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health hypothesized that nutritonally poor meals contribute to prison violence. They found a relationshop between increased omega-3 fatty acid intake and a reduction in the murder rate in prison. British researchers found a50 percent decrease in anti-social behavior in prisoners given omega-3 supplements compared to those given a placebo (fake omega-3s). Researchers in Holland and Norway found similar results. Omega-3 fatty acids promote nerve cell growth in the frontal cortex - a part of the brain that helps control impulsive behavior. Eating more fish is hardly amagic bullet that will put an end to crime, but it might reduce feelings of anger and violent behavior in prisoners consuming nutritionally poor diets.
(The New York Times Magazine, April 16,2006) | 
06-08-2006, 08:43 PM
