Hangry is an actual thing
- Published
When lunch is fast approaching, how do you feel?
A bit hungry perhaps? Maybe a touch irritable?
Now scientists have said that you'd be forgiven for snapping at a colleague or classmate.
You're just hangry.
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Yep, being hangry is now an actual thing.
Simon Oxenham, writing in the New Scientist, external, says it can even affect your work and relationships.
"The main reason we become more irritable when hungry is because our blood glucose level drops," he writes.
"This can make it difficult for us to concentrate and more likely to snap at those around us."
"Low blood sugar also triggers the release of stress-related hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, as well as a chemical called neuropeptide Y, which has been found to make people behave more aggressively towards those around them," Simon explains.
Not eating might make you to be a bit grumpy with your partner too.
One study, external asked people to stick pins in a 'voodoo doll' which represented a family member.
At the same time, volunteers competed against their partner in a game where the winner could blast loud noise through the loser’s headphones.
Researchers measured their blood glucose levels throughout the whole experiment.
When people had lower sugar levels, they subjected their partner to longer blasts of noise and stuck more pins into their dolls.
The New Scientist also says there's evidence to suggest judges might offer stricter sentences to people just before lunchtime.
But conflicting evidence, external says "harsher sentences may in fact be more likely towards the end of the morning because judges schedule simpler cases for this time.
"More complicated, lengthier cases carry a risk of running over into their lunch break."
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But some of us are apparently more susceptible to 'hangriness' than others, external. So while you might be as cool as a cucumber in that lull before dinner, your housemate might be as spiky as a... pineapple.
The moral of the story? Next time you're feeling a touch irritable, grab yourself a banana.
And chill.
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Via Newsbeat
