Getting a Handle on Hanger
What a day. You skipped lunch, got stuck in traffic, and suddenly the smallest inconvenience – like someone breathing too loudly – sets you off. And don’t get me started about dishes left in the sink…
Sound familiar?
You might not be an inherently irritable person; maybe you’re just hangry. The combination of hungry and angry has become a part of popular vocabulary, but the phenomenon it describes is more than a meme. “Hanger” is a real emotional state rooted in biology, psychology, and the constant conversation between body and mind.
Hunger and the Brain
When you haven’t eaten for a while, blood glucose levels drop. Glucose is the brain’s primary source of energy. Unlike other organs, the brain can’t store glucose for later use, so when levels dip, it sends out signals to let us know that it’s time to restore balance.
The hypothalamus, a small but vital region deep in the brain, monitors energy balance and helps regulate hunger, thirst, and emotion. When glucose levels fall, the hypothalamus releases hormones such as ghrelin, which triggers hunger, and activates stress-related pathways involving cortisol and adrenaline. These chemical changes heighten arousal (and irritability), as they prepare the body to seek food.
When you’re hungry, your system is on alert –
more interested in procuring food
than being patient or polite.
The physiological need is hoisted up the list of priorities.
This is all aligned with the fact that the brain is a prediction machine, combining prior knowledge with current understanding. This prediction-heavy function is fundamental to, well, staying alive.
When we first feel hunger, we are far from malnourished and – despite what your more dramatic friends might say – not “starving.” But that doesn’t mean that the hunger sensation feels any less than essential. It is essential. If this sensation goes unaddressed for too long, malnourishment and starvation will eventually be on the table. So body and mind combine forces and motivate you to eat.
Imagine if hunger were more “accurate,” if you didn’t feel hunger until you were actually starving – you would not have enough energy to hunt or gather or graze. You’re toast. It’s essential, so we forgive it. And once we understand it, we can make more thoughtful choices.
If you’re angry (while hungry), remember that emotions are not hardwired reactions, but dynamic interpretations of bodily sensations. When you feel the discomfort of low blood sugar, your brain interprets those signals in context. Your cognitive mind attempts to make sense of the situation. If you are stuck in traffic or having a stressful day, and you’re hungry, remember that you are layering meaning on top of the sensation – internal sensation intertwined with external situation, whether they are related or not. Subnconsciously, an annoying coworker might be interpreted as what’s standing in the way of nourishment.
The interplay of physical state and psychological processing is where meaning is made. The hungry person is just trying to make sense of their sensations. Easier said than done.
The Impact of Irritability
Several studies have examined how hunger alters emotional regulation. A 2018 study published in Emotion found that people who were hungry were more likely to interpret ambiguous images as negative and report higher levels of irritability. This suggests that hunger biases perception and emotional interpretation. In other words, it might make the world seem more frustrating than it really is – or more accurately, more than it would be if you were satiated.
The culprit, in part, is the hormone cortisol. When blood sugar drops, cortisol and adrenaline are released to help free stored energy from the body’s reserves. These hormones increase alertness and drive, but they also elevate tension and impulsivity. Over time, or in moments of intense hunger, this can impact the brain’s capacity for self-control.
The prefrontal cortex – the region responsible for decision-making, empathy, and emotional regulation – depends on steady glucose levels to function optimally. When energy levels drop, this part of the brain becomes sluggish, leaving the more primitive, reactive parts of the brain, like the amygdala, in charge.
The result: you might be more likely to snap at your friend, yell at your steering wheel, or take something personally that might not have bothered you after a snack.
Hanger also illustrates how emotion depends on context. The same physiological state, low blood sugar, can lead to different outcomes depending on the situation and interpretation. If you are at home preparing dinner, with the smell of meatloaf humming in the oven, hunger might feel like excitement or anticipation.
But if you’re in a tense conversation, your brain might braid internal and external sensations into anger or frustration. Emotions are essential, they can lead us in the right direction, but they are often blunt instruments – at some point, our more nuanced cognitive abilities need to tag in.
Emotional granularity, or the ability to precisely identify and label emotional states, can help mitigate hanger’s effects. When you can recognize, “I’m not mad, I’m frustrated and hungry,” you give yourself a chance to regulate more effectively. This cognitive reframing recruits the prefrontal cortex, reestablishing control and allowing for more constructive behavior. It gives you a chance to grab the reins of your situation.
Moving Forward
This effect is not limited to hanger. A similar effect is taking place if we are overloaded on stimulants, or constantly fueling up on sugar-loaded, highly processed foods. Nutrition matters. The same way lack of nutrition can lead to hanger, spikes in blood-glucose from junk food can throw our physical state our of balance as well. Peaks and valleys can create volatility.
Nutrition habits that result in scattered emotional states do indicate a personal flaw. Forgive yourself and remember that our emotions are not detached from our biology; they are constructed through it. As noted by Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett, the brain’s primary job is not to think, but to regulate the body. To read and incorporate physical signals and move toward allostasis (the process by which the body maintains stability by adapting to stress and changing demands over time). Emotions like hanger are signals, not defects. They tell us something about what our body needs. If we are willing to listen.
In a world that often prizes productivity over self-care, listening to these signals is an act of intelligence. A snack, a pause, or a good meal can restore not only your blood sugar but supports your empathy, patience, and sense of calm.
So the next time you feel that rising tide of irritability before dinner, don’t suppress it – get aware, work to understand, then make an intentional choice. And if you tend toward anger when hungry, forgive yourself fast, then get ahead of the situation by packing some snacks.
References
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