It's official: if you're feeling a bit down in the dumps, then filling your face with chips will cheer you up, according to boffins at Aston University’s School of Life and Health Sciences.

The team, led by Dr Mike Green, showed 60 adults a short film on the aftermath of the Hiroshima atom bomb, which unsurprisingly induced "mild dysphoria".

Half were then given chips, and reported "a 10 and 13 per cent increase in calmness and cheerfulness respectively" as well as an "eight per cent decrease in anxiety after eating chips".

Green explained: “The consumption of chips clearly improved respondents’ mood. The psychological data showed that participants who were feeling down felt better after eating chips. In fact, calmness was restored within twenty minutes.”

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