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Junk food and the brain: How modern diets lacking in micronutrients may contribute to angry rhetoric

University of Canterbury Professor of Clinical Psychology Julia Rucklidge and University of Calgary Professor Emerita Bonnie Kaplan share some insights into the research about the correlation of nutrients and irritability, explosive rage and unstable moods on The Conversation.

What’s going on? This escalation in angry rhetoric is sometimes attributed to social media. But are there other influences altering communication styles?

As researchers in the field of nutrition and mental health, and authors of The Better Brain, we recognize that many in our society experience brain hunger, impairing their cognitive function and emotion regulation.

Obviously, we are not deficient in macronutrients: North Americans tend to get sufficient protein, fats (though usually not the best fats) and carbohydrates (usually not the good complex carbs). But we are being cheated of micronutrients (minerals and vitamins), particularly in those whose food choices are dominated by ultra-processed products.

Ultra-processed products include things like soft drinks, packaged snacks, sweetened breakfast cereal and chicken nuggets. They generally contain only trivial amounts of a few micronutrients unless they are fortified, but even then, only a few at higher amounts.

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