Eating ourselves to death: How food is a drug and what food abuse costs

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to examine definitions of the terms “drug,” “drug use, “drug abuse,” and “addiction” to determine if the most commonly consumed foods in America are similar or consistent with drug use, abuse, and addiction. The methodology consists of reviewing published studies in the “food addiction” literature to determine if any consensus on the issue is achieved. Further, the author analyzes research on harms (including illness, death, medical costs and productivity losses) of illicit drugs, licit drugs, and foods. The author finds evidence that some food consumption is consistent with drug use and drug abuse, and that food addiction is real. Further, the harms caused by the unhealthy foods we eat dwarf those caused by crime and illegal drugs combined. Based on the data, the author suggests we reprioritize what we believe to be dangerous and “criminal” as well as rethink the “war on drugs.”

Homicide or Happiness: Did Folate Fortification and Public Health Campaigns Influence Homicide Rates and the Great American Crime Decline?

“…However, the idea that a relatively sudden and significant rise in a blood chemical is without any neurobehavioral consequence (beyond those associated with neural tube defects) seems to be the more implausible consideration. At this stage, controlled intervention trials using folic acid, and other nutrients involved in folate metabolism, seem overdue [8,9].…”

“…The idea that nutrients such as folic acid could influence brain and behavior was certainly ongoing when the fields of nutritional neuroscience and nutritional psychiatry emerged in the 1980s, yet were only at the periphery of criminology and the criminal justice system. It is only with advances in research related to nutritional criminology and food crime [8,9] that it is possible to retrospectively examine cases and epidemiological trends that previously escaped explanatory (biological) discourse within the realm of criminal justice [32]. We now turn our attention toward such evidence, including preclinical work, population studies, and mechanistic pathways.…”

“…Research in the area of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has helped to shed light on the role of nutrients and dietary patterns in impulsivity [7]. As a result, there is increased scrutiny of the intersection between nutrition and the criminal justice system, in terms of both treatment and prevention [8,9]. For example, omega-3 fatty acids, or a lack thereof, have been linked to impulsivity, suicide by violent means, and national homicide rates [10].…”

Neurolaw: Revisiting Huberty v. McDonald’s through the Lens of Nutritional Criminology and Food Crime

“…The available research indicates that nutritional interventions, both dietary and supplemental, can influence outcomes of relevance to antisocial behavior and aggression. Related to this research is the emerging realm known as food crime, an area of inquiry that scrutinizes the tactics of the ultra-processed food industry, and potential culpability for harms associated with the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution, of such products (Robinson 2022a(Robinson , 2022b). We will now turn our attention to food-based cadmium as a possible (if not probable) explanation for the cadmium in Huberty's hair.…”

“…Wilson 2023)? The answers to these questions lead to many more, including whether or not corporations-such as those manufacturing/distributing ultra-processed food products-are liable for behavioral health outcomes (Robinson 2022a(Robinson , 2022b. Here, we contend that the emerging science of nutritional criminology (Logan and Schoenthaler 2023), and its intersection with microbiome sciences (Gato et al 2018), is of high relevance to neurolaw.…”