Eating can be a more emotional exercise than many realize.

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Charles Manson, one of the most damaged human beings in recent history, made a lot of bad decisions. Among them, we now know, was what he chose to eat for breakfast. According to a highly regarded study,  Manson’s violent, antisocial behavior might have been avoided if only he had put some chopped walnuts in his granola.

Dr. William Walsh of the Pfeiffer Treatment Center in Naperville, Ill., analyzed the hairs of 27 murderers, including Manson, in the 1980s. Walsh found a consistent chemical pattern—severe zinc deficiency. Inadequate levels of the trace mineral found in walnuts, as well as some meats, other nuts, and beans, are known to be linked to aggression, emotional instability, and poor stress response. Of course there were other factors—but Walsh concluded that a poor diet contributed to turning these people into monsters.

More recently, the young guests at an English maximum-security prison were fed vitamins and other food supplements with their pudding. Oxford University’s Bernard Gesch found that prisoners who received doses of zinc, iodine, potassium, and magnesium committed 37 percent fewer violent offenses than a control group.

Similar results have shown up in schools that are replacing soda and junk food with salad bars and whole grains. Teachers and administrators are finding that students who eat well get better grades and have fewer behavioral problems.

Biochemists and nutritionists are not terribly surprised by these results. It is an accepted scientific fact that food affects our brain chemistry. The relationship between what we eat and how we feel involves cranial chemicals called neurotransmitters, which jump from cell to cell relaying messages. More and more research is showing that a balanced diet allows these neurotransmitters to function the way they are supposed to. A healthier diet can mean a healthier state of mind.

The superstar element in mood regulation is the transmitter serotonin, sometimes called the “happy molecule.” When the serotonin is flowing, good moods are more likely. Some foods encourage the pituitary glad to pump the happy mollecule; other foods can clog things up.

Just ask nutrition and holistic health counselor Heather Esposito, one-time Monterey resident and student at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City. Esposito says she entered her field after discovering that her own depression—which sometimes found her descending into thoughts of suicide—was directly connected to what she ate.

“Serotonin eases tension, plays a role in mood, sleep, and appetite,” she says. “Low levels can lead to depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders.”

While Western science and medicine have only recently begun to pay close attention to the way food affects our emotions, diet has long played a key role in Eastern traditions.

Jeff Turner, a health practitioner in Monterey, follows the precepts of Ayrvedic medicine, an ancient Indian practice. In addition to common physical ailments, Turner says, he regularly treats people who complain that they can’t focus, or can’t sleep, or have trouble dealing with anger. He has also dealt with patients who come to him because they are depressed or lethargic.

He says his reponse is influenced by Eastern practices regarding prevention, and that he often recognizes the same primary source for their struggles.

“It is really all connected to food,” he says. “People eat three times per day. From my perspective, people medicate three times per day.”