French fries may be linked to anxiety and depression

Frequent eating of fried foods, such as French fries, could be linked towith a 12% higher risk of anxiety and a 7% increased risk of depression, according to a study conducted by Chinese scientists.

The research was conducted for more than 11 years, and 140,728 people participated in it. The results were published in the latest issue of the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).

The relationship, the publication claims, was more pronounced between male and young consumers.

To conduct the analysis in the first two years, they excluded participants who had previously been diagnosed with depression. They ended up finding a total of 8,294 cases of anxiety and 12,735 cases of depression among those who ate fried food during the study.

According to the scientists, this happens because frying food “especially potatoes” creates a compound called acrylamide, which “promotes anxiety- and depression-like behaviors via oxidative stress-mediated neuroinflammation.”

“Multi-omics analysis showed that chronic exposure to acrylamide causes changes in brain lipid metabolism and neuroinflammation,” the authors explain.

They add that acrylamide promotes lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress, which are involved in brain neuroinflammation.

Researchers point out that there is no need to panic because of the harmful effects of fried foodBut maintaining a healthy lifestyle and cutting down on fried foods can be beneficial for mental health as well as overall health.

Another risk in fried food consumption is in the opposite direction, as people with depression and anxiety may turn to so-called ‘comfort foods’ to alleviate the symptoms of the condition.

Junk food and poor nutrition can make your mood worse and keep you from progressing state of mental health, according to previous studies.