Hangry? You’re Not The Only One – And Here’s Why

The telly ad is hilare. Yeah, y’know the one: Joan Collins, blingtastic in full Dynasty get-up – complete with ruched satin dress, matching gloves and chandelier earrings – giving lip in the men’s locker room. A bite of a Snickers and she turns from diva to Dan, a man with a peculiarly round face, and we all laugh along with the tag line, “You’re not you when you’re hungry.”

Gas, isn’t it? Then there are the memes with the sad puppy faces: “I’m sorry for what I said when I was hungry.” #TooCute, but we’re guessing one in every 20 posts on your ‘gram feed, yeah? And now, lo and behold, there’s a science bit behind being hangry, and it’s actually very interesting – cos it could save your relationship and win you lots of money.

Yep, that’s right, being hangry might just make you rich cos scientists believe it gives you the edge in poker. Dutch researchers found that people who were moderately hungry or had a moderate appetite made better decisions on the Iowa Gambling Task than those who were full, or had a smaller appetite. The study entitled, Always Gamble on an Empty Stomach, means we’ll now delay the fish and chips ’til after the coins come crashing out on the slots. #cherrycherrybell #damn

While hunger might increase the chance of sponds, if your blood sugar is low you’ll have less self-control to deal with aggressive impulses say the folks at Ohio State University. “We found that being hangry can affect our behaviour in a bad way, even in our most intimate relationships.”

How did they measure this? Voodoo dolls. How amaze-o is that!? “All participants were given a voodoo doll that represented their spouse, along with 51 pins. At the end of each day, for 21 consecutive days, the participants inserted pins in the doll, depending on how angry they were with their spouse.” Science crossed with magic-y type stuff – sounds like it should be on the Hogwarts curriculum. #weheart

But how did they know they were hungry and not just annoyed cos someone left the toilet seat up? “Each person also used a blood glucose meter to measure glucose levels before breakfast and every evening before bed for the 21 days,” say Brad Bushman, professor of communications and psychology.

“The lower the participants’ evening blood glucose levels, the more pins they stuck in the doll.” And the take-home message? “Before you have a difficult conversation with your spouse, make sure you’re not hungry.” We think that advice should preface all the chats. And it validates our own personal research: coffee and cake is never a bad thing. Fries before guys. Hell yeah.

Pic credit: Where To Get It

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