French fries could be worse for your health than fried chicken, here's why

What should we eat to be healthy? We know that junk food is not slimming, as its name implies. It's common knowledge that eating pizza, fries, and burgers at a steady pace will not turn you into an Olympic athlete. But fries, in particular, do not only impact your weight. Your brain can also suffer from your passion for this delicious fried food that the Belgians know how to cook to perfection.

A link between fries and depression...

The best friend of the hamburger is not the best friend of your mental health. In China, researchers have studied the effects on the brain of eating fried foods, and more specifically, our beloved fries.

They noticed something surprising: The people who consume the most French fries (and more broadly, fried foods) are also those who are most prone to depression and anxiety. CNN, which relays the study, explains:

Frequent consumption of fried foods, especially fried potatoes, was linked with a 12% higher risk of anxiety and 7% higher risk of depression than in people who didn’t eat fried foods.

In addition, the study found that people who consume fried potatoes have a higher risk of depression than those who consume fried white meat, such as fried chicken for example. As CNN writes:

The study evaluated 140,728 people over 11.3 years. After excluding participants diagnosed with depression within the first two years, a total of 8,294 cases of anxiety and 12,735 cases of depression were found in those that consumed fried food, while specifically fried potatoes were found to have a 2% increase in risk of depression over fried white meat.

The researchers believe that acrylamide, a chemical which is formed particularly when frying potatoes, is the reason behind this increased risk.

Read more ⋙ McDonald's fries: Here's how to make it at home

Read more ⋙ The surprising truth of how McDonald’s fries are actually made

Or does depression lead to junk food?

We cannot repeat it enough: correlation does not (necessarily) mean causation. While the statistics are surprising, it does not (necessarily) mean that eating more fries will make you anxious or depressed.

In fact, it could be the opposite! That is, people prone to anxiety and depression could be more likely to consume fatty products for the sake of their mental health. It's called 'comfort food' for a reason! Thus, more studies are needed to confirm this causal link.

This article has been translated from Gentside FR.

Sources used:

CNN: 'New research suggests that french fries may be linked to depression'

PNAS: 'High fried food consumption impacts anxiety and depression due to lipid metabolism disturbance and neuroinflammation'