Are you someone who regularly consumes fried snacks like French fries? If you are, we have a bad news for you.
According to a latest research, the risk of anxiety and sadness were shown to be 12% and 7% greater, respectively, in persons who frequently consumed fried foods, particularly fried potatoes, compared to those who did not. The research was done by a team in Hangzhou, China.
Excerpts from the Study
Younger customers and young guys showed a stronger connection. Known risk factors for obesity, high blood pressure, and other health impacts include fried foods. The study’s findings “open an avenue in the significance of reducing fried food consumption for mental health,” according to the report that was released on Monday in the PNAS journal.
The results, according to nutrition experts, are preliminary, and it’s unclear whether fried meals caused mental health issues or whether people who were already experiencing symptoms of sadness or anxiety turned to fried foods.
Over the course of 11.3 years, 140,728 persons were examined. A total of 8,294 cases of anxiety and 12,735 cases of depression were discovered in those who consumed fried food after excluding participants who had been diagnosed with depression within the first two years. Fried potatoes were found to have a 2% higher risk of depression than fried white meat.
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Younger People are Risk-averse
Additionally, the study had discovered that the participants who routinely had more than one serving of fried food tended to be younger guys. “The human component of this study may indicate just what it purports: that higher intake of fried food increases the risk of anxiety/depression,” said Dr. David Katz, a lifestyle medicine expert who was not involved in the study, via email.
Katz, the founder of the nonprofit True Health Initiative, a worldwide alliance of experts committed to evidence-based lifestyle medicine, continued, “However, the causal pathway could just as readily go the other way: people with anxiety/depression turn to ‘comfort food’ with increasing frequency for some semblance of relief.” According to him, people who have anxiety or depression may use comfort foods as a form of self-medication.
According to a previous study highlighted inside this new one, eating poorly and getting inadequate nourishment can impair one’s mood and worsen a mental health problem.
Also Read: 5 Tips for Overcoming Depression