Can Eating French Fries Really Increase Your Risk of Depression and Anxiety?

Frequently eating fried foods, especially fried ones potatoessuch as French fries – may be linked to an increased risk of depression And anxiety, new research shows. But experts say the results should be interpreted with caution.

The new claim comes from an April study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Scienceswhich examined the correlation between the consumption of fried foods and the risk of anxiety and depression.

The researchers found that frequent consumption of fried foods, “particularly the consumption of fried potatoes”, was associated with a 12% higher risk of anxiety and a 7% higher risk of depression. Men and young consumers were the most affected, the researchers reported.

According to the study authors, acrylamide – a chemical byproduct of cooking food at high temperatures by frying, roasting or baking – may be behind the association of fried foods with anxiety and anxiety. the Depression.

But while the new research may upend your lunch plans, experts say the results should be interpreted with caution and you may not need to give up your favorite fried snacks altogether. Here’s what you need to know.

Consumption of fried foods is common among people following a Western-style diet, and previous research has shown that consuming fried foods is linked to negative health outcomes such as obesity, heart disease and even cancer.

What’s less known, however, is how fried foods affect mental health – that’s what researchers from Zhejiang University in China set out to find out in the new study.

To take a closer look at the correlation between eating fried foods and symptoms of anxiety and depression, researchers looked at data from 140,728 people in the UK Biobank study. Over approximately 11 years of follow-up, a total of 8,294 cases of anxiety symptoms and 12,735 cases of depression symptoms were identified.

Compared to people who did not eat fried foods, people who regularly ate fried foods were more likely to identify as men, smokers, and were often younger. Frequent eaters of fried foods also had higher body mass index, lower household income and education, lower use of vitamin supplements, and higher energy (caloric) intake.

After adjusting for age and gender, the researchers found that consumption of fried foods, particularly fried potato and fried white meat products, was significantly associated with a higher risk of symptoms of anxiety and depression. The results were also more pronounced among men and younger consumers.

Although human data is lacking, researchers have linked the increased risk of anxiety and depression from fried foods to a chemical called acrylamide, which can be formed primarily in plant-based foods – including potatoes, grain products or coffee – during high temperature cooking processes.

In addition to examining the association between fried foods and anxiety and depression, the researchers also tested their acrylamide theory by exposing zebrafish to the chemical to see how it would affect their levels of anxiety and of depression.

Chronic exposure to acrylamide in zebrafish has been determined to induce more anxious and depressive behaviors (i.e. spending more time at the bottom of an aquarium, reduced ability to explore in new environments and be less likely to prefer being in a group). .

Although acrylamide isn’t necessarily new to foods — it’s probably always been around — it wasn’t first detected in some foods until April 2002.

Acrylamide was already considered a probable human carcinogen (carcinogen), and a few years later the Joint Committee of Experts of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization Health on Food Additives (JECFA) concluded that it was a “human health concern”. However, human studies on the link between acrylamide intake and cancer are lacking – the chemical has been shown to primarily cause cancer in animals when exposed to very high doses.

The new research also suggests that long-term exposure to acrylamide may be linked to people exhibiting an inflammatory response in the brain and spinal cord, which can lead to anxious and depressive behaviors.

About 30% of adults have anxiety at some point. Anxiety is characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes like increased blood pressure. Depression affects approximately 16 million American adults each year.

It is also believed that markers of acrylamide exposure can be found in the blood of up to 99.9% of the US population. Given these statistics, it’s no surprise that people want to find ways to reduce their intake of acrylamide and reduce their risk of anxiety and depression.

But according to Nicole Lippman-Barile, PhD, NTPclinical psychologist and nutritional therapy practitioner, people don’t necessarily need to give up all fried foods based on this data.

“No food is linked to the development of long-term depression,” Lippman-Barile told Health. “Depression is a multifactorial disease with many different variables contributing to its presentation in an individual. It’s an inaccurate and oversimplified narrative to say that a food is linked to depression [or anxiety].”

Beyond that, Lippman-Barile noted that the study has limitations to consider, including that the authors did not control for variables that independently affect mental health outcomes like anxiety and depression, such as economic status, smoking, BMI and education. Not controlling for these factors does not allow us to exclude these variables as potential confounders.

“While this research raises concerns about French fries consumption, it is still preliminary and the associations do not necessarily imply causation,” Melissa Mitri, MS, RDNa Connecticut dietitian, said Health. “This means there could be other factors leading to an increased risk of anxiety than just eating french fries.”

However, “although research is needed, we know that an overall healthy and balanced diet, filled with nutrient-dense foods and low in fried foods like french fries, is beneficial for mental health,” Mitri said.

“Understanding the relationship between food and depression is very complex and very nuanced,” Lippman-Barile told Health, pointing out that it’s our overall diet that may or may not make a difference in mental health outcomes for some. people, not individual foods that we may want to eat occasionally because we enjoy them.

And while experts aren’t convinced that, based on current data, we need to be too concerned about acrylamide intake and anxiety or depression, you can choose to find simple ways to reduce your exposure. to these compounds.

If you’re a fan of deep-fried foods and are concerned about your acrylamide intake, here are some easy ways to reduce the level of this chemical in your favorite dishes:

• Reduce consumption of foods that are higher sources of acrylamide, including french fries, potato chips, coffee, and certain highly processed grains like cereal, cookies, and toast.
• Focus less on frying potatoes and more on baking or roasting potatoes. Better yet, boil or microwave the potatoes more often – these processes do not produce acrylamide.
• Soak raw potatoes in water for 15-20 minutes before frying or roasting them.
• Store potatoes outside of the refrigerator in a cool, dark place, such as a cupboard or pantry.
• Avoid cooking potatoes or toasting bread until the food becomes very dark (“golden” foods contain less acrylamide; “brown” foods contain more acrylamide).

It is also important to remember that frequent exposure to acrylamide can be linked to harmful results. This means that eating the occasional serving of French fries as part of an overall healthy balanced diet doesn’t seem to be the only deciding factor in whether you’ll develop depression or anxiety.

Focusing on eating habits rather than single foods and eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, beans, nuts, seeds and whole grains while limiting fried foods and concentrated sweets seems be your best bet when trying to support both your mental and overall health.