2023-04-27 18:34:00
Research from Zhejiang University in China published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences established links between Western dietary patterns and mental health problems. Suspecting that at least some of the evidence could be attributed to frequent consumption of fried foods, the team compared reported rates of anxiety and depression with accounts of eating behaviors that include frequent consumption of fried foods.
They found that those who reported eating a lot of fried foods were more likely to be diagnosed with symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. More specifically, they found that symptoms increased by 7% to 12% in people who reported eating such foods, with the highest risk appearing to be associated with eating French fries.
Exploring why eating such foods might increase the chances of mental health problems, the team isolated acrylamide, which they describe as a food processing contaminant that appears when food is fried. They tested the impact of acrylamide on zebrafish and found that it reduced their enthusiasm for exploring new territories and reduced their sociability, both signs of scototaxis and thigmotaxis, which are fish behaviors thought to be similar to anxiety and depression. in humans. They also found that acrylamide consumption reduced the expression of tjp2a, which has been found to play a role in blood-brain barrier permeability.
The research team suggests that more work is required to definitively prove that frequent consumption of fried foods leads to mental health problems.
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