Whether you're grabbing a quick bite to eat or sitting down to enjoy a meal, food makes a difference in your day.Franco LeDonne said, when he doesn’t eat, "I go rampant. I go all over the place."He's not alone. Sister station WTAE's Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 talked with several people about being "hangry.""Being hangry is something that you know, should be a small thing but when you are in the moment it feels like the biggest thing ever," Scott Barnhouse said.The word, that's commonly used, even made its way into the Oxford English Dictionary in 2018. Hangry is defined as "angry or in a bad mood because you are hungry.""Being hangry is the worst thing in the world, especially when you’re driving your car and your hangry. That could cause an accident," Mike Buckett said.Kids and adults, alike, can become hangry."When my kids don't get their snack, they get very cranky, and they get ... agitated. So, when I feed them, they are happy again, and their energy back — moving, being kids, being normal," Charlene Williams said.People can become hangry after a long workday."I get hangry all the time, especially if I've had a long day at work and I haven't had anything to eat yet," Barnhouse said. "My stomach is sending signals to my brain saying hey we're hungry and small frustrations turn into bigger frustrations at that point.”It may not be a medical term, but doctors said there is a medical reason why people feel irritable if they don't eat.First, your stomach sends signals to your brain. That's the feeling of hunger."So, when you don't eat for a long time, the brain recognizes this because it's getting signals from your stomach and your intestines that say that you haven't eaten for some period of time," said David Rometo, who is a clinical assistant professor in the department of medicine and the division of endocrinology at UPMC. "So you have a sensation that drives you to go eat something, find something and eat it."Rometo said a person’s body wants the right amount of nutrients. "If you don't eat for long enough you may actually go into a fasted state where your blood sugars do go down, but they aren't low, they are just in a range where your body will adrenaline and cortisol, two hormones that help keep your blood sugar from ever going low," Rometo said.He said the hormones can affect your mood and behavior and create stressful feelings."That irritable response, that stress response from cortisol and adrenaline or from other aspects of chemistry in the brain we don't yet understand, can affect how quickly we think and what drives the decisions we make and even if we are being emotionally intelligent with the people we work with," Rometo said.Rometo said eating shuts off the signal that you are hungry. The stomach tells your brain you have eaten. Then the hormone levels that make you hangry go down.Doctors said it's not just eating that improves your mood, the type of food you eat makes a big difference. They said the healthier the food, the better you feel.Colleen Ereditario, with the Healthy Food Center for Allegheny Health Network, said carbohydrates keep blood sugar levels up and gives you energy. She said proteins help muscle building and keep a person active. Fruits and vegetables provide vitamins and minerals so your body can properly function.Without that combination, she said it could be a recipe for a bad mood and even worse, long-term health conditions."This exacerbates issues such as diabetes you know can't manage your blood sugars if you are not eating healthy nutritious food sources," Ereditario said.
Whether you're grabbing a quick bite to eat or sitting down to enjoy a meal, food makes a difference in your day.
Franco LeDonne said, when he doesn’t eat, "I go rampant. I go all over the place."
He's not alone. Sister station WTAE's Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 talked with several people about being "hangry."
"Being hangry is something that you know, should be a small thing but when you are in the moment it feels like the biggest thing ever," Scott Barnhouse said.
The word, that's commonly used, even made its way into the Oxford English Dictionary in 2018. Hangry is defined as "angry or in a bad mood because you are hungry."
"Being hangry is the worst thing in the world, especially when you’re driving your car and your hangry. That could cause an accident," Mike Buckett said.
Kids and adults, alike, can become hangry.
"When my kids don't get their snack, they get very cranky, and they get ... agitated. So, when I feed them, they are happy again, and their energy back — moving, being kids, being normal," Charlene Williams said.
People can become hangry after a long workday.
"I get hangry all the time, especially if I've had a long day at work and I haven't had anything to eat yet," Barnhouse said. "My stomach is sending signals to my brain saying hey we're hungry and small frustrations turn into bigger frustrations at that point.”
It may not be a medical term, but doctors said there is a medical reason why people feel irritable if they don't eat.
First, your stomach sends signals to your brain. That's the feeling of hunger.
"So, when you don't eat for a long time, the brain recognizes this because it's getting signals from your stomach and your intestines that say that you haven't eaten for some period of time," said David Rometo, who is a clinical assistant professor in the department of medicine and the division of endocrinology at UPMC. "So you have a sensation that drives you to go eat something, find something and eat it."
Rometo said a person’s body wants the right amount of nutrients.
"If you don't eat for long enough you may actually go into a fasted state where your blood sugars do go down, but they aren't low, they are just in a range where your body will adrenaline and cortisol, two hormones that help keep your blood sugar from ever going low," Rometo said.
He said the hormones can affect your mood and behavior and create stressful feelings.
"That irritable response, that stress response from cortisol and adrenaline or from other aspects of chemistry in the brain we don't yet understand, can affect how quickly we think and what drives the decisions we make and even if we are being emotionally intelligent with the people we work with," Rometo said.
Rometo said eating shuts off the signal that you are hungry. The stomach tells your brain you have eaten. Then the hormone levels that make you hangry go down.
Doctors said it's not just eating that improves your mood, the type of food you eat makes a big difference. They said the healthier the food, the better you feel.
Colleen Ereditario, with the Healthy Food Center for Allegheny Health Network, said carbohydrates keep blood sugar levels up and gives you energy. She said proteins help muscle building and keep a person active. Fruits and vegetables provide vitamins and minerals so your body can properly function.
Without that combination, she said it could be a recipe for a bad mood and even worse, long-term health conditions.
"This exacerbates issues such as diabetes you know can't manage your blood sugars if you are not eating healthy nutritious food sources," Ereditario said.
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