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 snapped at loved ones, growled at waitstaff and practically gnawed innocent bystanders’ arms off, you’ll be pleased to know your hangriness is not all in your imagination and you’re not alone. It’s 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!).
Associate professor Zane Andrews studies the science behind food and mood in his role at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute in Melbourne. The key to your hangriness, he explains, is ghrelin, a hormone from the stomach that’s important for regulating food intake, as well as your moods and motivation.
“As the food you’ve consumed goes through the intestine and gets lower and lower, and your stomach becomes more and more empty, you start to release this hormone, ghrelin,” he says. “If you don’t eat, the parts of the brain that think you’re hungry send signals to other parts of the brain that control your mood and emotions.”
This story is from the August 9, 2021 edition of New Zealand Woman's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the August 9, 2021 edition of New Zealand Woman's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Kate's Heavenly career 'NOW I'M RUNNING A COUNTRY!'
The Hollywood heavyweight’s calling the shots again
Smooth OPERATOR
Come winter, Kevin’s going to miss the warmth of his ‘woolly legs’
Unconditional love 'WHAT BROOKLYN TEACHES US'
Despite being ‘trapped’ in her body, the wee girl enriches the lives of those she meets
Freddie's mercury rising! 'MY LIFE IS A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE'
In his quest to be a bett er man, the dad moved his family to New Zealand and set out on a mission near impossible
You won't be-leaf it! GROW VEGES FROM SCRAPS
Turn your kitchen windowsill into a mini hydroponic patch
How to get fit in JUST 7 MINUTES
Don’t sweat it! Bite-sized workouts can transform your body
SWEET & BUBBLY
Dessert on a weeknight? Heck, yes! With these one-pot wonders, you can pull it off with ease
Burgundy's Debbie 'I STILL ROCK MY
After a lifetime of razzle-dazzle, the gorgeous performer is far from hanging up her dancing shoes
Dame Susan's secrets & 'IT'S ALL OUT THERE NOW!'
The unstoppable star found time to squash in a book about her amazing life
Bella's double joy 'DAD PREDICTED TWINS!'
Paul Henry’s daughter shares her fertility journey that’s ended in a fairytale