It's already known that McDonald's french fries have little to no health benefits. They're high in fat, loaded with sodium, and generally something you shouldn't eat too often. However, new research may show that the side order may not be all garbage.
A new study by Japanese researchers claims that they've found a chemical in McDonald’s fries that can reverse baldness, according to Metro. Professor Junji Fukuda of the Yokohama National University recently studied the effects of dimethylpolysiloxane (DMPS), a chemical found in McDonald's cooking oil which has helped sprout new hair follicles in mice. Over the course of his studies, around 5,000 hair follicle germs (HFGs) grew in the observed rodents within only a few days.
“This simple method is very robust and promising,” Fukuda said. “The key for the mass production of HFGs was a choice of substrate materials for the culture vessel. We used oxygen-permeable dimethylpolysiloxane (PDMS) at the bottom of culture vessel, and it worked very well. We hope that this technique will improve human hair regenerative therapy to treat hair loss such as androgenic alopecia.”
Fun fact: Dimethylpolysiloxane is added to french fries to help reduce splatter, but it's also found in tons of other commercial (and inedible) products like children's toys, caulks, breast implants, silly putty and cosmetics. Do with that what you will.
