If you needed a reason to subscribe to your favorite conspiracy theory website, this next story might make your shatter the windows of your local Popeye’s (we don’t condone illicit violence).

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown — by each of a range of measures, in men and women of all ages, in Caucasians and minorities — that consumption of dietary trans fatty acids (dTFAs) is associated with irritability and aggression.

Personally, I used to have issues after McDonald’s french fries were consumed, but I would link that to my greediness because I never wanted to share, which led to my subsequent irritability. But all jokes aside, the prevalence of fast-food restaurants and comfort-food kitchens in low-income areas besets residents who are oftentimes trapped within the areas because lack transportation or income but want to have healthier options.

It’s only a conjecture on my part to link the violence in low-income areas to the overabundance of trans-fat laden foods in fast food restaurants, but I do wonder what the folks in the Pentagon and on Fox News are eating, considering their aggressive, irrational stance to everything.

The study of nearly 1,000 men and women provides the first evidence linking dTFAs with adverse behaviors that impacted others, ranging from impatience to overt aggression. The research, led by Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD, associate professor in the UC San Diego Department of Medicine, has been published online by PLoS ONE.

Dietary trans fatty acids are primarily products of hydrogenation, which makes unsaturated oils solid at room temperature. They are present at high levels in margarines, shortenings and prepared foods. Adverse health effects of dTFAs have been identified in lipid levels, metabolic function, insulin resistance, oxidation, inflammation, and cardiac health.

The survey measured such factors as a life history of aggression, conflict tactics and self-rated impatience and irritability, as well as an “overt aggression” scale that tallies recent aggressive behaviors. Analyses were adjusted for sex, age, education, and use of alcohol or tobacco products.

“We found that greater trans fatty acids 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,” said Golomb.

“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.”

Foods with the highest dietary Trans-fat reads like a who’s who of processed foods:

• Margarine – Stick margarine has 2.8 grams of trans fat per tablespoon, and 2.1 grams of saturated fat.
• Processed Meats – A KFC Original Recipe chicken dinner has 7 grams, mostly from the chicken and biscuit.
• Fried Foods – Self explanatory! Fries (a medium order) contain 14.5 grams
• Frozen Foods – Mrs. Smith’s Apple Pie has 4 grams trans fat in every delicious slice
• Canned Soups – Make your own homemade soups
• Potato Chips – A small bag of potato chips has 3.2 grams of trans fat.
• Crackers – Nabisco Original Wheat Thins Baked Crackers have 2 grams in a 16-cracker serving
• Baked Goods – Doughnuts can contain at least 5 grams apiece
• Breakfast Foods – Kellogg’s Cracklin’ Oat Bran Cereal has 1.5 grams per 3/4 cup serving

Source: Science Daily