Beyond Auto-Brewery: Why Dysbiosis and the Legalome Matter to Forensic and Legal Psychology

Abstract

International studies have linked the consumption of ultra-processed foods with a variety of non-communicable diseases. Included in this growing body of research is evidence linking ultra-processed foods to mental disorders, aggression, and antisocial behavior. Although the idea that dietary patterns and various nutrients or additives can influence brain and behavior has a long history in criminology, in the absence of plausible mechanisms and convincing intervention trials, the topic was mostly excluded from mainstream discourse. The emergence of research across nutritional neuroscience and nutritional psychology/psychiatry, combined with mechanistic bench science, and human intervention trials, has provided support to epidemiological findings, and legitimacy to the concept of nutritional criminology. Among the emergent research, microbiome sciences have illuminated mechanistic pathways linking various socioeconomic and environmental factors, including the consumption of ultra-processed foods, with aggression and antisocial behavior. Here in this review, we examine this burgeoning research, including that related to ultra-processed food addiction, and explore its relevance across the criminal justice spectrum—from prevention to intervention—and in courtroom considerations of diminished capacity. We use auto-brewery syndrome as an example of intersecting diet and gut microbiome science that has been used to refute mens rea in criminal charges. The legalome—microbiome and omics science applied in forensic and legal psychology—appears set to emerge as an important consideration in matters of criminology, law, and justice.