Study Says Fries Are Risky To Increase Anxiety And Depression

Illustration (Valaria Boltneva/Pexels)

JAKARTA - Researchers from Hangzhou, China have found that fried food consumption, especially French fries, contributes to mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression.

Medical Daily reported, reported by ANTARA, the research team conducted a population-based study of 140,728 people to identify the correlation between fried consumption and the risk of developing mental health problems.

Findings show frequent eating fried foods, especially French fries, are associated with a 12 percent higher risk of anxiety and a 7 percent higher risk of depression.

Scientists believe that acrylamides, chemicals formed during the frying process, are the culprit. They found that long-term exposure to acrylamides can cause anxiety and behavior such as depression.

As part of the study, scientists are also evaluating the behavior of zebra fish exposed to acrylamides. They find zebra fish that have long-term acrylamide exposure to choosing to live in dark zones in tanks, suggesting higher levels of anxiety.

After exposure to these chemicals, zebrafish, which generally form groups with their species, show reduced social skills due to swimming not adjacent to other zebrafish.

"This result is expected both epidemiologically and mechanically to pave the way in the importance of reducing fried food consumption for mental health and providing evidence to understand anxiety and depression triggered by acrylamide," the researchers wrote.

According to them, these findings do not mean that people should panic about the negative effects of fried foods. The findings are a warning to reduce fried food intake for better mental health and overall well-being.

Meanwhile, some experts suggest a possible inverse cause. They believe mental health problems such as depression and anxiety can make people change their diet and they may turn to calming foods as a way of self-medication.