Fight the hangarian in you by following these tips
Food improves your mood. Kindly repeat this mantra. Food improves your mood. That’s true, fellow hangarian. Hangarian is actually not a word (I just made it). But the word hangry is ( See http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/hangry ).
Hangry is the feeling you get when you’re experiencing anger as a result of being hungry. Fabulous term huh? If you do hear it said , more often than not, you’ll hear someone say it while waiting for food at the restaurant or while standing in line waiting for their turn to order food. I’m HANGRY! There you go.
Studies have shown that your brain and body have difficulty regulating your mood if your blood sugar levels are low. A certain study even found that couples fight more when they’re hungry and angry at the same time. Sound familiar?
Tips for How to Avoid Becoming Hangry
Eat before you start feeling hungry. Before you start feeling irritated and jittery secondary to hunger, try to avoid being hangry by eating ahead of time. This piece of advice is useful for those who work long hours. A doctor for example, could extend his patience when seeing his patients (hey, that rhymes) if he anticipates his hunger and eats ahead of time. It prolongs his patience and allows him to focus more on his patient’s medical problem. Increase fibre in your meals. Fibre reduces your appetite, hence it reduces your hunger. When you feel less hungry, you feel less anger and irritation. Fibre also helps to slow down the absorption of glucose into your bloodstream so your food gives you energy longer. Foods rich in fibre contain a lot of water which helps you feel full. Examples of fibre rich foods are:
Some of the fibre-rich foods listed above can be eaten as snacks such as nuts and seeds in a trail mix. Keep them handy and within your reach (side pocket of your bag, not in the pockets of your trousers please) to curb your hunger. Nuts are high in fibre, protein and healthy fats so stop buying those “healthy” potato chips.
Add protein to each meal. Protein-rich foods take a long time to digest. They also allow glucose to enter the bloodstream more gradually. This gives your body enough time to make it to the next meal without you turning into the Hulk because of hanger. Protein dulls hanger, remember that.
Maybe you’re just thirsty. Your body can sometimes confuse hunger with thirst. Don’t forget to drink lots of water. Besides the fact that it keeps you hydrated and less irritated, it also helps you feel full. I said water, not iced tea or soft drinks.
HANGRY – It’s an Emergency. What should you do if you feel hangry? We have a few tips in mind.
- 1. As much as possible, avoid talking to anyone. It can only fuel your emotion and keep you agitated and furious. Wait until you’ve eaten and are thinking more rationally.
2. When you feel hangry, stop whatever it is you’re doing. Of course this is only applicable to non-medical people or those whose occupations don’t deal with the health and safety of people. You can’t exactly stop what you’re doing if you’re the pilot landing the airplane!
- 3. Head for the nearest establishment with food such as a grocery store, supermarket or food stand. Whoa! What are you doing? Don’t get a grocery cart or basket, just get the ready-to-eat food you need to alleviate your hanger.
4. Remember, when you're hangry, your ability to control your impulses goes into lockdown and becomes compromised. Your brain shifts its primary focus to finding food. Everything else becomes secondary to that. Literally speaking, you turn into someone horrible when you’re hangry. Do everyone around you a favour, eat something before its too late, fellow hangarian.
Related Links
References
- Leyse-Wallace, Ruth. Nutrition and Mental Health. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2013.
- Lieberman, Harris R., Robin B. Kanarek, and Chandan Prasad, eds. Nutritional Neuroscience. Nutrition, Brain, and Behaviour. Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis, 2005.
- Carlson, Neil R. Physiology of Behaviour. 11th ed. Boston: Pearson, ©2013
- Baynes, John, and Marek H. Dominiczak. Medical Biochemistry. Fourth ed. Philadelphia: Saunders, 2014.
- https://www.pnas.org/content/111/17/6254.abstract
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/high-fiber-foods/art-20050948
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_fiber
- http://www.nutristrategy.com/nutrition/calories.htm
×
![Image Modal]()
This content will be overwritten when the modal opens
This form is protected by reCAPTCHA - the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.