Is Hangry a Real Emotion?

If you've ever had to apologize for what you said when you were hungry, you may be comforted to know that hanger is real. Learn what causes is -- and how you can stop or even prevent it -- in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain stuff from how stuff works, Hey, brain stuff,
Lauren Vogel bomb here. Many of us are familiar with
the feelings that low blood sugar produces. Crankiness sets in.
Some of us get abusive, others downright hostile. Usually a
glass of juice, a candy bar, or some other well
timed snack clears this honest to goodness condition colloquially called

(00:24):
being angry, a cross between hungry and angry. I call it.
You wouldn't like me when I'm hungry? But why does
hanggar happen? Some people have good self control and others don't.
In recent years, scientists have linked self control to nutrition.
They say self control requires energy. If your body is
mining for energy and finds done well, self control goes

(00:47):
out the window. It all comes down to the amount
of glucose our body's process. The human body is a
machine made of meat. Like all machines, it needs fuel.
That fuel comes in the form of glucose, a a
blood sugar. Our bodies convert the carbohydrates and the foods
we eat into glucose. The body then stores some of
that glucose in the liver and muscles as glycogen and

(01:09):
stores some as fat. When our blood sugar is low,
the hypothalamus, the portion of the brain involved in hormone production,
among other things, gets bent out of shape, throwing the
body's hormones out of whack and suppressing serotonin. A neurotransmitter.
Serotonin has a hand in controlling mood and appetite. It's
often called the feel good neurotransmitter because it can relieve

(01:30):
symptoms of depression and anxiety. If your body stops processing serotonin,
your mood can shift. You can get tired or forget things.
Your concentration becomes poor. You might even get angry. Still,
your blood sugar has to drop like a rock, from
seventy to a hundred milligrams per desilet to less than
fifty five milligrams per DESI leader for the hangar games

(01:52):
to begin. In a study published in the journal p
n a S confirmed the people really do get hangry.
The researchers studied whether low glucose levels were responsible for
greater aggression in married couples. The scientists studied a hundred
and seven couples and monitored their glucose levels twice a
day for twenty one days to measure their aggressive impulses.

(02:14):
The researchers asked each person to stick between zero and
fifty one pins into a voodoo style doll representing their spouse,
with more pins representing greater anger. When the three weeks
were up, the researchers asked each couple to play a
game designed to measure aggression. The scientists allowed the winner
of the game to blast the loser with loud noise

(02:35):
as both sat in separate chambers. There was a catch, however,
each person wasn't actually turning up the volume. Regardless, those
participants with low glucose levels believed they were hammering their
spouses with high decibels of irritating noise. The authors concluded
results suggest that interventions designed to provide individuals with metabolic

(02:56):
energy might foster more harmonious couple interactions. In other words,
eat some carbs before you argue. And this study was
just one of several linking self control to glucose levels
in the brain. Another study concluded that those who drank
a beverage high in glucose were less aggressive than those
who did not. Still, another study found an indirect relationship

(03:16):
between diabetes, which is marked by poor glucose metabolism, aggressiveness
and decreased self control. Although causation is always hard to
pin down, these studies suggested that a spoonful of sugar
helps diminish violent or aggressive behavior in the short term.
Of course, consuming too much sugar and other simple carbohydrates
can lead to poor glucose metabolism in the long run,

(03:38):
so while a cookie maybe a quick fix if you
need to focus, it's best overall to consume balanced meals
and snacks containing enough protein and fats along with those
sweet carbs to keep your blood sugar nice and even.
Today's episode was written by John Paritano and produced by
Tyler Playing Brains def has merchandise. Now you can contain

(04:02):
your liquids, electronics, and or body in brainy style by
visiting t public dot com slash brain stuff, and of course,
for more on this and lots of other even keeled topics,
visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com.