A rather unexpected consequence. If the harmful effects of a diet too fatty on the body are now well known, Chinese researchers have managed to determine that fried products can also impact your mental health. According to the study, spotted by CNN, French fries could facilitate the onset of depression. Well, almost… Because according to American doctors, this link could just as well be the opposite: people with depressive tendencies “taking refuge” in “comforting” food.
“Frequent consumption of fried foods, in particular the consumption of fried potatoes, is associated with a 12% and 7% higher risk of anxiety and depression, respectively, in men and young consumers”, judge the judges. authors of the study, in the American scientific journal PNAS, published on April 24.
If American scientists do not question the validity of research, some call to read these teachings in the other direction. Causation “could just as well go the other way.” “People with anxiety and depression are turning to more comforting foods,” such as fried foods, Dr. David Katz, who specializes in medicine and lifestyle analysis, told CNN.
Also according to the doctor, these anxious or depressed people tend to feed “more frequently” on this type of product, “for a semblance of relief”. An opinion shared by professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Walter Willett.
Despite this publication, the authors of the study call to avoid any panic and any boycott. As often, it’s all about dosage. Questioned by our American colleagues, Yu Zhang, one of the authors of the study, calls above all for simply reducing the quantity of fried foods and maintaining a lifestyle as simple as possible.