The researchers evaluated 140,728 people over 11.3 years. (Pic credit: Unsplash)
The greasy, starchy French fries are comfort food for many. But according to researchers binging on french fries may negatively impact mental health. Researchers in Hangzhou, China, have found that frequent consumption of fried food items, especially fried potatoes, is linked with depression and anxiety.
The research says that people who frequently indulge in consuming fried food such as French fries were 12 per cent more likely to go through anxiety-related issues and had a 7 per cent risk of depression than people who did not eat fried food, according to CNN.
The research was published in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America). The link was more pronounced among young men and younger consumers.
Fried food may also lead to obesity, high blood pressure and other health-related issues. The result "opens an avenue in the significance of reducing fried food consumption for mental health," according to the research.
However, the experts said that the results were preliminary and it is not clear whether fried foods were driving mental health issues, or whether people experiencing symptoms of depression or anxiety turned to fried foods.
The researchers evaluated 140,728 people over 11.3 years. After excluding participants diagnosed with depression within the first two years, 8,294 cases of anxiety and 12,735 cases of depression were found in those that consumed fried food.
"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 specialist who was not involved in the study told CNN.
Dr Katz said that those with symptoms of anxiety and depression might turn to comfort food as a way of self-medicating.