What? French Fries May Increase Anxiety And Depression?

French fries are a love for many, but this comfort food has been purported to increase the risk of anxiety and depression.

French fries are comfort food, a go-to snack, a companion for all moods, and a food choice that can never (mostly never) go wrong. While we all are aware that it falls under the junk category and is not ideal for a healthy diet, many of us enjoy a cheat day. But the bottom line remains that excess of anything is bad. All this is fine, but what if we tell that french fries are particularly not great for mental health? Slightly, taken aback right? Something unexpected. But according to the latest Chinese research published in the journal PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, French Fries are linked with a 12 per cent increased risk of anxiety and a 7 per cent heightened risk of depression.

How French Fries Affect Anxiety and Depression?

Published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the research team suspects the culprit is acrylamide, a substance that forms when frying some potato-based foods, reported New York Post. But what is acrylamide? It is a toxic substance that may be formed when food is deep-fried or cooked at high temperatures. Potato-based food is often high in starch content which may lead to high concentrations of this substance.

In the study, the scientists noted that long-term exposure to acrylamide caused adult zebrafish to “show anxiety and depressive-like behaviors.” The US Food and Drug Administration warns that high levels of acrylamide caused cancer in animals, but the risk to humans is “not clear exactly.”

Quoting Dr. David Katz, a lifestyle medicine specialist who was not involved in the study, CNN reported that, “The human component of this study may indicate just what it purports: that higher intake of fried food increases the risk of anxiety/depression.”

Fried Food and Mental Health

Fried foods are known to have certain negative effects on body. These foods can cause inflammation which can trigger anxiety and symptoms p depression. Furthermore, when foods are fried in oil, they lose water and absorb fat, which further increases their calorie content.

The study stated, “Chronic exposure to acrylamide dysregulates sphingolipid and phospholipid metabolism, which plays important roles in the development of anxiety and depression symptoms. In addition, acrylamide promotes lipid peroxidation and oxidation stress, which participate in cerebral neuroinflammation.”

This explains how friend food has impact on mental health. Apart from it, such food can lead to obesity, heart problems, cholesterol levels, are not good for diabetes as well.