THURSDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) -- Eating a diet high in
trans fatty acids, an ingredient found in fried foods, baked goods
and other prepared meals and snacks, might be associated with
negative -- and even aggressive -- behavior, new research
suggests.
In conducting the study, researchers from the University of
California, San Diego School of Medicine analyzed the diet and
behavior of 945 men and women. They also considered other possible
contributing factors, such as the participants' history of
aggression as well as alcohol and tobacco use.
The study, published online recently in
PLoS ONE, found that people who consumed more trans fats were more likely to demonstrate negative behaviors, such as impatience, irritability and aggression.
Study leader Dr. Beatrice Golomb, an associate professor in the
UC San Diego department of medicine, explained in a university news
release that higher levels of trans fatty acids in the diet were
"significantly associated with greater aggression, and were more
consistently predictive of aggression and irritability, across the
measures tested, than the other known aggression predictors that
were assessed."
However, while the study uncovered an association between
dietary trans fatty acids and negative behavior, it did not prove a
cause-and-effect relationship.
"If the association between trans fats and aggressive behavior proves to be causal, this adds further rationale to recommendations to avoid eating trans fats, or including them in foods provided at institutions like schools and prisons, since the detrimental effects of trans fats may extend beyond the person who consumes them to affect others," Golomb concluded in the news release.
"Dietary trans fatty acids are primarily products of hydrogenation, a chemical process that makes [unsaturated] oils solid at room temperature," according to background information in the study. Previous research has linked dietary trans fatty acids to adverse health effects on lipids (such as cholesterol), metabolic function (how the body turns food into energy), insulin resistance, inflammation and cardiac and general health, the authors of the report noted.
More information
The American Heart Association has more about
trans fats.