A grumpy brain?
Have you realised that when you are hungry, you tend to snap at the littlest things? Science can actually explain why being hungry can make you angry. Let's call it being 'hangry': the state of mind when you are hungry and angry.
Blame it on glucose. When you eat, the carbohydrates, proteins and fats are broken down into simple sugars (like glucose), amino acids and fatty acids. Eventually, the glucose level on your blood rises. Blood, being the vehicle, transports these essentials to the different organs of your body. So when you are not eating, you are deriving your organs from getting enough nutrients. And glucose is a 'food' your brain craves a lot. The brain is highly dependent on it. So much so, it sees lack of glucose as a life-threatening situation.
So when your blood is running low on glucose, you will find it difficult to focus and do simple tasks. It even makes it hard for you to behave within socially acceptable norms, and hence the anger. So there you go!
When your brain craves glucose but doesn't get much, it becomes desperate, sending out orders to various organs to synthesize and release hormones that increase the level of glucose in the bloodstream.
This might have a 'side-effect': anger. Two of such counter-regulatory hormones are stress hormones (such as adrenalin) that are also released when you are under stress.
The 'hungry' brain also releases a certain chemical, which has many functions, such as increasing food intake. The chemical is eventually responsible for not just increasing appetite, but also bringing about an associated change in aggression and aggressive behaviour.
So, what do you do? You rush to the store, 'hangirly' buy chocolates or chips or ice creams or something of that sort and stuff yourself with it: they restore the glucose in blood very fast.
But this is of course not the way to go. 'Hangry naki'? Forgive the poorly thought out pun. But indeed, make sure that you do not get hungry: eat regularly so that your brain is fed with an appropriate amount of glucose.
Keep calm and eat.
By M H Haider
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