Hangry

It’s official: You can get “hangry”

Almost all of us have heard of the term “hangry”; it’s a snazzy portmanteau born from combining the words “hungry” and “angry” to describe the crankiness that can come from having an empty stomach. Recent research shows that there’s an actual scientific mechanism behind this feeling and that “hangriness” isn’t just an excuse for being a grump.

The study

A study conducted by scientists from the University of Guelph, Canada suggests that the low glucose levels we experience when hungry can truly lower our mood. The findings of this research were published in the Psychopharmacology journal.

The effects of hypoglycaemia (low glucose) were studied on rats who, on one occasion, were given an injection containing a glucose metabolism blocker. This injection caused them to experience hypoglycemia. The rats were also put in a specific chamber for this part of the experiment.

On another occasion, the same rats were injected with water and were put into a different chamber. When given the freedom afterwards to go to any chamber, the rats actively avoided going into the one where they felt their blood sugar drop.

According to Professor Francesco Leri from the university’s Psychology department, says that the rats’ avoidance of that chamber was a sign of the stress in it and as a result, their reluctance to go there again.

The rats were also found to have elevated levels of corticosterone — a stress hormone — after experiencing hypoglycaemia. They also appeared to be more sluggish while hypoglycaemic.

Leri says that the researchers gave the rats an anti-depressant and observed whether their sluggishness continued after that. He says that this part of the study was necessary because to test whether the rats’ sluggishness was a result of reduced muscle activity due to depleted glucose levels or if it was related to their moods.

The rats’ slugishness disappeared being given the antidepressant, confirming the researchers’ theory that psychological stress was the culprit.

Thomas Horman, leader of this research and PhD student, says this study shows that metabolic factors resulting from what he called “poor eating behaviour” can have an impact on mood. He also says that this effect can last as having a low mood from not eating may make an individual reluctant to eat, resulting in a continuous cycle where the individual in question constantly feels low.

This team of researchers now hopes to establish whether chronic hypoglycaemia increases the risk of developing depressive behaviours.

Horman adds that these findings may also affect future treatments for conditions such as depression and anxiety, as nutrition may also be factored into treatment plans.

What this means for you

Now that you know that being hangry is a very real and can last longer than you think, you need to stop it from happening. Try to stay in tune with your body’s cues and make sure that you eat whenever you feel hungry. Your body (and just about everyone else!) will thank you for it.

Sources: Science Daily , Health Line

By Tesneem Ayoub

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