Sunday, April 19, 2015

You're not yourself when you're hangry

Oddly enough, one can fined some educational value in television commercials, even if that was not the original intention. Case in point:

 

The basic premise of this commercial is that the experience of hunger makes you angry, and that may have an impact on your impulse control. So, you're no longer reacting the way you normally would to the frustrations and provocations (in this case accidental) that you experience in day-to-day life.

A friend of mine gave a TED talk last fall discussing some of his research on hunger, in the process coining a term, hangry. The scenario in the commercial is one that can be demonstrated under carefully controlled lab conditions. The lack of food leads to lower levels of blood glucose in the brain. When individuals become hangry, they tend to show less impulse control and they show greater aggression levels when provoked.

So, how do we prevent becoming hangry? Apparently, it may be as simple as having a snack to elevate your brain's blood glucose level to optimal levels. However, keep in mind that the sorts of snacks likely to reduce hanger will be ones far more nutritious than the product in the commercial.

In the meantime, enjoy my friend's TED talk. And keep in mind that in a sense, whether intended or not, a simple TV commercial had some educational value.





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