Hostility in fantasy: A further test of the hypoglycemia-aggression hypothesis

The impact of diet on anti-social, violent and criminal behaviour

“…In addition some with a history of violence have a tendency to develop low levels of blood glucose (Bolton, 1973(Bolton, , 1979Virkkunen, 1982Virkkunen, , 1983Virkkunen, , 1984Virkkunen, , 1986). Yet any discussion of the role of diet in the modulation of aggressive and anti-social behaviour generates controversy: it will seem implausible to a majority of both social scientists and nutritionists that diet may be important.…”

“…In those ranked as the most aggressive by members of the community, there was a tendency for blood glucose to fall to low values in a GTT (Bolton, 1973). Those who developed low blood glucose levels were more likely to complete sentences with aggressive content (Bolton, 1979). They not only acted aggressively but thought in a hostile manner.…”

Unlocking the Energy Dynamics of Executive Functioning: Linking Executive Functioning to Brain Glycogen

“…Several studies demonstrate that people with poorer glucose tolerance generally have poorer executive functioning than do people with better glucose tolerance (for a review, see . Specifically, poor glucose tolerance has been linked to greater criminality and violent behavior (Benton, Kumari, & Brain, 1982;Bolton, 1979;Donohoe & Benton, 1999a;Gans et al, 1990;Matykiewicz, La Grange, Vance, Mu, & Reyes, 1997;Virkkunen, 1982Virkkunen, , 1984Virkkunen, , 1986Virkkunen, DeJong, Bartko, Goodwin, & Linnoila, 1989;Virkkunen & Huttunen, 1982), impulsivity (Roy, Virkkunen, Guthrie, & Linnoila, 1986;Virkkunen, 1984Virkkunen, , 1986Virkkunen, Nuutila, Goodwin, & Linnoila, 1987), and less emotional stability (Nagornev et al, 1999). It is likely that poor glucose Volume 3-Number 4 tolerance is the result of insulin insensitivity (i.e., insulin is relatively ineffective in allowing glucose to enter cells) and is not necessarily linked to low glucose levels.…”

Sweetened blood cools hot tempers: physiological self-control and aggression

“…hypoglycemia, diabetes) have been linked to numerous signs of poor self-control, including eating fatty and sugary substances over a long period of time [e.g. Bolton, 1979; Eren et al, 2003; Pereira et al, 2005; Virkkunen and Huttunen, 1982]. Self-control is also impaired by inadequate levels of brain glycogen [Gailliot, 2008], a metabolite that provides energy for sustained effortful exertion.…”