Bad for health But chips cheer you up

CHIPS CHEER YOU UP

London: Having chips might be considered bad for health for its high carb content, but a new study claims that it improves a person's mood and makes him or her calmer and more cheerful.

                Researchers who led the study concluded that the mood - swing could be either due to the carbohydrates in chips, or simply because the taste and smell are associated with happy times, such as seaside holidays.

              For the study, commissioned by the Potato Council and carried out by Aston  University in Birmingham, 60 persons were shown a five minute film which graphically depicted the fall -out of the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War ll. At the end of the movie, half of the subjects were given a magazine to hep them  get their mind off the film , while the other half were  given a plate of chips.

Mike Green, from the University of Aston, said: "The psychological data showed that the participants who were feeling down after watching the films felt better after eating chips. "In fact, calmness was restored in the subjects after just 20 minutes.

               Researchers concluded that the mood-swing could be either due to the carbohydrates in the chips, or simply because the taste and smell are associated with happy times, such as seaside holidays