You’ve probably heard people use the word “hangry” ( hunger plus anger ) to describe being cranky and easily frustrated when they’ve gone too long without eating. In fact, you may have even used the term, a combination of hunger and anger, to describe your own feelings after you’ve missed a meal. As it turns out, hanger is absolutely a real thing. In fact, there is some solid evidence backing this up. When we go without eating for extended periods of time, both our blood sugar and our serotonin levels drop. This impacts the way our brains work, making it difficult for us to control our tempers and more likely to have angry reactions to small frustrations. This is why we tend to bite people’s heads off when we are overly hungry, or at least why we want to do this.
For some people, hanger is a real problem, because it doesn’t take long for symptoms to appear after they’ve missed a meal. This could be because they have existing issues with blood sugar,or simply a low tolerance to the chemical changes that come with hunger. Fortunately, there are ways to stave off feelings of hangriness.
Know Your Own Hunger Patterns And What Works For You Throughout The Day
Hanger isn’t just about food. Your stress levels throughout the day impact how you react to hunger. In addition to this, you may feel hunger more during different times of the day. This is why some people can eat a pastry in the morning and not think about food until lunch, while others need protein. It’s also why some people drag themselves through the afternoon without a snack, but need a mid-morning snack. Once you know when you are most likely to suffer from moodiness and hunger, you can plan accordingly.
On the other hand, personal preference only goes so far. There are a few rules that nearly everybody can incorporate into their lives in order to avoid becoming hangry. Here are just a few of these guidelines.
Eat Frequently
Eating small yet frequent meals and snacks can help your body to regulate its blood sugar. As a result, you won’t be prone to the ugly crashes that people often experience when they overindulge on one or two meals, rather than spreading their calories out. Not only can eating frequently stave off hunger-related moodiness, it can make it easier maintain a healthy weight by improving your metabolism. One thing to consider, though, is calories in vs. calories out. If you were previously taking in enough calories, be sure that you are dividing those calories throughout your frequent meals and snacks. If you aren’t getting enough calories, adding in a few snacks can help you fill up. Foods such as nuts, dried fruits, apples, oranges, and bananas travel very well and can help you stay full throughout the day. If you have an insulated cooler, you can even carry along items such as hard boiled eggs, hummus and crackers, salad, or even crudites and dip. Invest in a good thermos, and you can keep hot foods on hand all day long.
Eat Foods That Are Proven to Enhance Mood And Focus
One encouraging thing about food is that we know more and more, how different types of food impacts both mood and focus. For example, dark green leafy vegetables contain folate that helps improve your mood. Then there is coconut that can help your body regulate its flight or fight response and improve your body’s ability to recover from stress. Dark chocolate reduces the production of the stress hormone, cortisol. Finally, studies have shown a diet that is rich in whole foods and largely plant-based is more conducive to lower stress and happiness than a diet that is full of processed and fried foods. Try to incorporate these foods into your diet in order to make the food that you eat work for you.
Remember That Fiber Rich Foods Are Filling and Inexpensive
Take a look in your pantry. How much white do you see? If you are eating lots of products that contain processed and bleached flour, white potatoes, and simple carbs such as chips and cookies, you may be driving up your blood sugar and putting yourself at risk for a mood ruining crash. Unfortunately, when many people feel this effect, they blame it on bread, wheat, rice, and other grains. However, in reality, for many people the issue isn’t that they are consuming carbs in general, it’s that they are consuming carbs that are processed and low in fiber.
Try to replace the carbs in your diet with whole grains. Rolled or steel cut oatmeal are great options for keeping full at breakfast. In addition to this, if you switch from white rice and pasta to whole grain versions, that can stave off blood sugar ups and downs. You can also try replacing simple carbs with high fiber fruits and vegetables. By eating foods that keep you fuller longer, you better rely on coping skills such as learning to express anger through writing. Also latest studies confirm that writing can significantly improve your health. So take note of that if you ever wanted to start a book.
Fill Up With Protein And Healthy Fats
Proteins and healthy fats are extremely important to a well-rounded diet, especially if food related mood and personality issues are a concern. In fact, adding an extra protein or food item with healthy fats may be just what you need. In fact, here are a few things to consider adding to your diet:
- Hard boiled eggs
- Tree Nuts
- Natural peanut butter
- Avocados
- Coconut and Olive Oil
- Beans and legumes
- Lean meat and fish
You may find that your body does function better and that you feel better when you build a diet around protein and healthy fats. If that is the case, you may wish to make all of these ingredients part of your advice.
Hydrate
If you aren’t properly hydrated, that can through your body out of whack as well. Water is, for the most part, your best option when it comes to staying hydrated. However, if you are feeling particularly sluggish, a small amount of juice can serve to boost your blood sugar levels.
