Every now and then medical research delivers some hard blows, which many might think would have been better if they hadn’t known about it. But facts are facts whether they are comfortable or uncomfortable to many.
This week, a large scale study involving data on over 1.4 lakh people, collected over a period of 11 years, found startling evidence that one of the world’s most loved comfort foods – French fries – may negatively impact mental health.
The study published recently in the prestigious American journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), found that people who consumed fried foods like French fries had a 12% higher risk for developing depression and 7% higher risk for ending up with anxiety related issues. These are statistically significant risk elevations.
While almost all fried foods were harmful in this regard, fried potatoes were especially bad. That would render other fried potato preparations more popular for mass consumption in India like potato chips and their branded varieties equally harmful.
It was quite well known that fried foods like French fries are unhealthy for physical health as they contribute to obesity, hypertension & cardiovascular diseases like heart disease and stroke. But that they are bad for mental health too is lesser known, even though the biohacking classic ‘The Making of a Superhuman’ discusses this in detail.
Written by noted biohacker, researcher, and peak performance expert, Sajeev Nair, this Amazon bestseller explains how fried foods like French fries cause mitochondrial dysfunction and neurotoxicity, and also includes tips to accommodate some fried foods in the diet occasionally, for those who find total prohibition tough.
The recent PNAS published study about French fries is disturbing due to another reason too. French fries, that most people find intensely tasty, is for this same reason a top comfort food, which means people tend to eat them more when they are slightly depressed or anxious, but which aggravates these problems in the long run. In other words, a classic vicious cycle.
What would be the lasting solution to this new challenge thrown by medical research? The most obvious one would be to reduce fried foods, especially fried potato preparations. But this kind of generic advice is exactly the same type that has not delivered much benefit for most people due to its impracticality.
A much better solution that gets mentioned in ‘The Making of a Superhuman’ would be to get yourself assessed to find out your genetic & metabolic risks for developing these physical ailments like obesity, high BP & cardiovascular diseases as well as psychological ailments like depression and anxiety.
This is because only those who have such geno-metabolic risks are highly susceptible to develop these diseases. If you don’t have such hard coded risks in your DNA you can breathe easy about consuming fried foods occasionally and in limited quantities.
Today, even in India, a simple saliva based genetic test and associated lifestyle management program called EPLIMO can deliver this personalized insight. EPLIMO’s geno-metabolic assessment can reveal risks for any among 250 such lifestyle diseases, both physical and psychological.
EPLIMO also delivers a detailed set of epigenetic biohacks or personalized lifestyle modifications spanning diet, nutrition, supplements, exercise, yoga, sleep, meditation, breathwork, de-stressing, detoxing etc to keep at bay the detected disease risks in each person.
EPLIMO can also open your doors to an exciting new world of opportunities in Limoverse, the world’s first blockchain based health & wellness ecosystem and metaverse. Those opting for EPLIMO have the option to enrol for the Limoverse ModiFi program in which they will be rewarded financially through Limo crypto tokens for achieving specific lifestyle goals – for example a specified level of weight loss – under the guidance of a certified lifestyle coach.