In 1979, Dan White received a lesser punishment for murdering his colleagues, because prior to the crime he had consumed large quantities of processed and sugary foods. It was presented that this caused him to become both violent and incapable of rational thought. The judge and jury bought this hook line and sinker, and it became known around the world as the Twinkie Defense, which I always thought was kind of funny - until I understood how the body works.

In 2009, I’d like to introduce the Lifetime of Poor Eating and General Overload of Chemicals in the Body Defense. Not because it’s a defense I’d like to see in court, but because I actually think it speaks to an underlying truth about most violent criminals. I’ll explain why…

When studying violent crimes and criminals, the perpetrator’s past is often analyzed. And true, often times the present criminal was also a victim, but not always. The socio-economic status is also often viewed, and let’s be honest, there are neighborhoods we’re all little afraid to go in after sundown - often even the people who call it home. And there is no doubt that poverty induces a state of helplessness that is often a factor in crime.

But one thing we’re missing, and I think it may be one of the most important factors - is the state of the perpetrator’s body. And often, but not always, I think this is intimately tied to socio-economic status. I’ll explain, but to understand, you’ll need to know about how the liver works in the human body.

Our liver is our prime detoxification organ. It’s the organ largely responsible for removing all of the incoming chemicals from foods and lifestyle habits. Of course, the number of chemicals coming into the body explodes with junk food, processed food, and fast food diets - which I’m going to argue are more common in areas with high crime, and with the majority of violent criminals.

The number of chemicals coming into the body also goes through the roof with habits like cigarette smoking and drug use - and even by using lower quality, often drug store brand, highly chemical personal care items. Many of these habits and product choices are also common in lower socio-economic areas and with violent criminals.

The number of incoming chemicals decreases considerably with the regular consumption of organic, unprocessed foods from nature, but I’m going to argue that such foods often aren’t on the plates of violent criminals, or unfortunately on the tables in many low socio-economic areas. I’m going to argue that more of their food comes from a bag, box, can, or a fast food window - as opposed to a tree or plant that hasn’t been sprayed repeatedly with pesticides.

This is important because in spite of the common belief that humans are immune to the bombardment of all of these chemicals, our bodies overwhelmingly disagree. And despite common beliefs, these chemicals absolutely build in the body and stay there, until a concerted effort to remove them is undertaken.

By this point, you likely appreciate that processed, junk food, and fast food diets demand a huge amount of detoxification resources from our often already overworked livers. A rather abnormal amount really. Many common diet and lifestyle habits actually put our livers in a state of continual overload. This is a place where you’re lucky if your liver can render harmless some portion of the chemicals being dumped into your body. Diets heavy on junk foods, processed foods, and fast foods take this general overburdening to an extreme level. These diet and lifestyle habits create a toxic liver and bloodstream filled with dangerous chemicals.

These chemicals in our bodies effect our brains and emotional systems, and there’s another important reason why a diet and lifestyle with considerable chemicals in it is connected to violent behavior.

The reason is: Different emotions are related to different organs. And the emotion connected to an overworked, toxic liver is: Anger. The more overwhelmed your liver is, the more apt you are to become angry and have a difficult time controlling your temper. From here, it’s easy to understand that people with a greater degree and intensity of anger, are more likely to have violent.

Personally, I wonder if what we really need instead of jail houses are some accessible body cleansing and detoxification centers to get these people’s bodies back to a state doesn’t encourage anger and violence. In addition, curtailing the use of chemicals in our foods and eliminating many of chemicals found in personal care items would substantially reduce many common societal problems - health and violence included. I think we’d have far better results than with any of the options we’re playing around with.