There are times when you get so hungry it changes your personality… and not for the better. That experience is so universal Snickers has built an entire ad campaign around it. But getting “hangry” is not just a phony, built-in excuse for unacceptable behavior—it is a result of real chemical reactions in our brain. Science says there’s an actual reason you’re not yourself when you’re hungry, and it might have helped our species survive.
The latest YouTube video from SciShow explores the best theories science offers to explain why we get so mean and aggressive when our stomachs are rumbling. “Hanger,” the foul mood that overcomes you when you haven’t eaten, is a real “physiological and psychological phenomenon” that could be due to a number of ways our bodies respond to being denied what it wants—whether it’s because it impairs self-control unleashing our naturally aggressive side, or our brain gets its wires crossed and confuses hunger for something else.
See? We are miserable monsters because of evolution. Being angry when we’re hungry might have helped humanity survive when food was scarce.
But that doesn’t mean you can use it as an excuse to yell at your server when a restaurant is slow with your food, because you don’t have to worry about being eaten by a tiger when you are trying to capture your next meal. So chill out, even when you’re hangry.
Why do you think you get upset when you haven’t eaten? Take a bite out of our comments below with your reason.
Featured Image: Snickers
More fun with food!
- Why not get married in a donut shop?
- Or taste some earthworm jerky?
- At least give these ketchup slices a try!
