Are You Hangry?

Have you ever felt your anger rise while your tolerance level dip as you waited for your food to be served? Here’s why

Picture your usual group gathering of family or friends – you’re all out to dinner and start off chatting nicely. If it’s a late dinner or your meals take a while to arrive, the mood changes. As time wears on, everyone’s patience wears out. You turn into snapping turtles, dredging up old grievances and picking on each other.

You’re not usually so unpleasant, you’re all just mighty, mighty hangry (hungry + angry).

If you’ve been known to snap at loved ones, growl at waitstaff and practically gnaw innocent bystanders’ arms off, you’ll be pleased to know your hungriness is not all in your imagination and you’re not alone. The phenomenon is all too real.

FEED THE GHRELIN

Several scientific studies have examined how aggression rises as our blood glucose levels drop since our last meal. One such study suggests judges pass heavier sentences the longer they’ve gone without food. In another examining married couples, people stuck more pins in a voodoo doll representing their partner as they became hangrier (yikes!).