Eat Your Feelings: The Science Behind Being Hangry

We’ve all experienced the feeling: we either didn’t give ourselves enough time to have breakfast, or we’re just saving our appetite for dinner plans later on. Time passes, our mood starts to swing, and everything around us makes us irritable.
Many refer to this condition as “hanger,” which is an amalgamation of “hungry” and “anger.” It’s that time of the day where our grumpiness takes over as we are overdue for a snack, but why does this happen to some?
When the body is deprived of blood glucose, the brain receives all sorts of signals that perceives it to be in a life-threatening situation. According to an article published in Men’s Health,

“It’s a stress response,” says Indiana-based Registered Dietician, Whitney Bevins.

Think of glucose as your brain’s fuel. When your brain senses that you’re running low on glucose, you start to experience symptoms such as headaches, fatigue and aggressiveness.
Suffering from the occasional hanger is normal, but getting hangry on a daily basis isn’t.

“Daily hanger could mean you have a metabolic problem,” says director of the Los Angeles Lakers PRO Nutrition Program, and author of Deep Nutrition, M.D., Catherine Shanahan. “It shouldn’t be that difficult for your body to provide your brain with energy.”

The best way to deal with hanger is to eat something before you get too hungry.
While it may be tempting to feast on junk food, junk foods usually induce large rises in blood-glucose levels that cause you to crash, making the condition worse.
Replacing your Frosted Flakes with eggs, fruits, and vegetables for breakfast isn’t a bad way to start. After all, you are what you eat.