You’
ve heard of comfort food; now meet anger food: the trans fatty acids found in many baked goods, fried foods and snacks, damn it. Researchers at the University of California in San Diego believe they have shown that eating trans fatty acids (dTFAs) is associated with irritability and aggression. A university news release reports that researchers used dietary information and behavioral assessments of 945 adult men and women to analyze the relationship between dTFAs and aggression or irritability. They survey measured history of aggression, conflict tactics and self-rated impatience and irritability, as well as an “overt aggression†scale that tallies recent aggressive behaviors. What did they find? That greater trans fatty acids were significantly associated with greater aggression, and were more consistently predictive of aggression and irritability than the other known aggression predictors that were assessed. Read more from UCSD. Read the study here.