We always hear people talk about being hangry, meaning they are so hungry it’s making them angry, and while some may just think that’s a term somebody made up, now science has proven it really does happen.
For the first time ever, a new European study has linked hunger to a person’s emotional state. The study, out of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and the Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, suggests increased levels of hunger increase a person’s anger and irritability, and also drops their level of pleasure.
The study had 64 adults in central Europe recording their levels of hunger each day, along with their emotional well-being, using a specialized smartphone app, allowing researchers to study data under real-world conditions. They found that even when accounting for factors like age, sex, BMI, diet and more, most people when they feel hungry experience more anger and irritability and less pleasure. Hunger brought on a 37% increase in irritability, and a 34% increase in anger, plus it dropped someone’s feelings of pleasure by 38%.
The study notes that they didn’t determine ways to overcome such negative hunger-induced emotions, but suggest that simply being able to label such emotions could help regulate it.
Source: Study Finds