One of the most frustrating things has got to be when you want to eat but can’t yet. You’re on hour three of a long meeting, but your stomach’s been grumbling since hour one. The voices droning on about market predictions and sales tactics start sounding like the wah-wah-wah’s of adults in Charlie Brown’s world, and all you can think about are the free sandwiches your boss promised before the meeting started.
Your eye starts twitching, and right before you snap, the meeting concludes. Have any of you been there before? Okay, maybe not in that exact situation, but surely you’ve been hungry, frustrated, and tired all at once, right? What I just described is the feeling of being hangry—hungry and angry at the same time.
Why do we get hangry?
If any of you have felt that before, you know it can turn you into a different person. The good news is there is a way to stop, or at least soften, hangry feelings. In an article by Laura Kunces, she writes about why “hangriness” happens and how to deal with it when it does. Kunces writes that studies show hangry as being identified with low blood sugar, which affects the hormone ghrelin. This hormone is “known to increase food/reward behavior, impulsive behavior, anger, and aggression levels.” It is associated with negative emotions such as edginess, stress, and disgust.
Since we all have different tolerance levels to low blood sugar, these emotions occur at different times for everyone. Kunces writes that a blood sugar dip triggers different hormones to rebalance its level. Both cortisol, the hormone responsible for stress, along with adrenaline, are released when hungry to increase the blood’s glucose. Waiting too long to eat, though, makes the hormone response pointless, leading to hangriness.
Being hangry not only makes you mad and irritable, it leads to a negative perception. Kunces refers to a lab study in which participants rated purposefully ambiguous images as positive or negative, along with their hunger levels when rating. Those that were hungrier rated the images as negative more often than those that were not. The study also found that the hungrier people negatively judged another person without being aware of it.
If you feel that you’re the only one in your family or social circle to get hangry, be aware that there are other responses to feelings of prolonged hunger. Kunces writes that if you don’t get angry, you might feel fatigued and have poor concentration or coordination, leading to mistakes in mental or physical performance. It often feels like we make the most mistakes or feel the most tired right before our lunch breaks at work or school. Don’t beat your self up over it. Instead, plan ahead. There are ways of dispelling these feelings of anger or weariness so you make the most out of your day.
How to end hangriness
One tip Kunce provides to stop being hangry is to figure out how long between a meal or snack you can last. Possibly use a continuous glucose monitor. This can estimate your glucose level every few minutes and keep track of it over time, helping you see how your body responds to food. However, consult with a doctor or physician to check if it would be right for you. Kunce recommends sticking to foods with mostly proteins or healthy fats, as these will have less of an effect on your sugar.
Another tip is to keep a satiating food source nearby, like a granola bar or trail mix. This can stabilize some of the hormones associated with hunger and cravings. Lastly, stay hydrated. There are many times when we think we’re hungry but are actually thirsty. Adults should have a minimum of 64 ounces of water daily. If in an office meeting waiting for lunch, or in the pickup line at your kid’s school, drink some water to curb your appetite.
