Source: Interesting Engineering
Security & Justice
State Action Signals Change in Tackling Longstanding Illegal Land Grabs in Jbeil District
For years, the serene villages of Jbeil's highlands have been far from peaceful. Ghabat, a Maronite village nestled between the predominantly Shiite towns of Afqa and Lassa, has become a focal point of growing tensions due to territorial disputes.
Friday, December 20, 2024
Mawlawi Ensures Strict Monitoring for Wanted Syrian Regime Figures at Beirut Airport
Caretaker Minister of Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, conducted an inspection tour of Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut to review the security arrangements and measures implemented by the Airport Security Apparatus ahead of the holiday season.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Opinion
Lebanon After the Assads
The United States has important equities in Lebanon, including a desire for a generally friendly government’s economic and political stability; security cooperation; long-standing relations with the large Christian community in Lebanon and Lebanese diaspora in the United States; and ultimately peace between Israel and Lebanon within a broader regional settlement. Achieving these objectives will require navigating a tumultuous period in the country’s history following a war between Hezbollah and Israel that has devastated a large part of the country, exacerbating Lebanon’s already challenging economic conditions. But perhaps the most important dynamic will be how a likely Sunni-dominated state of uncertain composition in Syria will differ in its intentions toward Lebanon from the previous Alawite-led minoritarian Assad regime.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Europe’s Syrian Dilemma
The news of the sudden and unexpected demise of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria has met a mixed response in Europe. The jubilation that a murderous dictator and close ally of Russia and Iran has fallen is not just good for the Syrian people but serves as a morale booster for Eastern Europeans wondering whether Russia can be defeated
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Sports
Cristiano Ronaldo Unveils New Private Jet Worth $73 Million
Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the richest global athletes, has unveiled his upgraded private jet reportedly worth $73 million. With its top-notch design, exceptional speed and range of 7500 nautical miles, the Gulfstream G650 is among the fastest jets in the world.
Monday, December 16, 2024
Guardiola Accepts Man City May Need to Sign More Players to Cope with Schedule
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes he will need a bigger squad to handle soccer’s ever-expanding fixture schedule.
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Friday 28 April 2023 16:28:42
Bad News for French Fries Lovers: Its Consumption May Lead to Depression
We all know fried food is unhealthy but tastes so good. French fries, churros, fried chicken, jalebi. Yum! But excessive consumption of the above leads to weight mismanagement. We’re also looking at a high risk of heart attack and coronary artery failure, and now we’re learning - an increased risk of depression and anxiety.
A new study demonstrates that long-term exposure to acrylamide, an organic compound found in potato chips, crackers, bread, cookies, coffee, etc., induces depressive behaviors and anxiety.
The research team from Hangzhou, China, based their findings on studying a population size of 140,728. The study revealed that frequent consumption, especially fried potato consumption, is strongly associated with a 12 percent higher risk of anxiety and a 7 percent higher risk of depression. Another interesting revelation was that the male population and younger consumers are more prone to developing these mental health issues.
The research was conducted over 11 years and excluded participants diagnosed with depression within the first two years of the study. A total of 8,294 cases of anxiety and 12,735 cases of depression were found in those that consumed fried food. Those who consumed fried potatoes were found to have an increased risk of depression by 2 percent over those who consumed fried white meat.
CNN spoke to experts regarding the study's findings, who said that the results are preliminary, and it’s unclear if fried foods are indeed driving mental health issues. The study could also not establish if people experiencing symptoms of depression or anxiety turned to fried foods. However, another study published in 2020 claims that depression and anxiety can determine a person’s food intake. The term 'emotional eating' has been widely used to refer to overeating to cope with one’s emotions, with the chosen food items being energy-dense and palatable.
According to the latest estimates by the World Health Organization, approximately 3.8 percent of the global population suffers from depression in 2023. The author of the study and researcher at Zhejiang University, Yu Zhang, spoke to CNN and said, "There is no need to panic about the adverse effects of fried food.” He added that maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle and reducing fried food consumption help manage mental health.
Study abstract:
Western dietary patterns have been unfavorably linked with mental health. However, the long-term effects of habitual fried food consumption on anxiety and depression and underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Our population-based study with 140,728 people revealed that frequent fried food consumption, especially fried potato consumption, is strongly associated with 12% and 7% higher risk of anxiety and depression, respectively. The associations were more pronounced among male and younger consumers. Consistently, long-term exposure to acrylamide, a representative food processing contaminant in fried products, exacerbates scototaxis and thigmotaxis, and further impairs exploration ability and sociality of adult zebrafish, showing anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors. Moreover, treatment with acrylamide significantly down-regulates the gene expression of tjp2a related to the permeability of blood–brain barrier. Multiomics analysis showed that chronic exposure to acrylamide induces cerebral lipid metabolism disturbance and neuroinflammation. PPAR signaling pathway mediates acrylamide-induced lipid metabolism disorder in the brain of zebrafish. Especially, chronic exposure to acrylamide dysregulates sphingolipid and phospholipid metabolism, which plays important roles in the development of anxiety and depression symptoms. In addition, acrylamide promotes lipid peroxidation and oxidation stress, which participate in cerebral neuroinflammation. Acrylamide dramatically increases the markers of lipid peroxidation, including (±)5-HETE, 11(S)-HETE, 5-oxoETE, and up-regulates the expression of proinflammatory lipid mediators such as (±)12-HETE and 14(S)-HDHA, indicating elevated cerebral inflammatory status after chronic exposure to acrylamide. Together, these results both epidemiologically and mechanistically provide strong evidence to unravel the mechanism of acrylamide-triggered anxiety and depression, and highlight the significance of reducing fried food consumption for mental health.
