Why do people get angry? The answer is not what you think

It happens to everyone. You skip lunch, the date drags on, the afternoon never ends and, without realizing it, you discover yourself more nervous than usual. The slightest wrong word is annoying, the smallest difficulty seems enormous. Usually, the explanation comes immediately: "I'm hungry, I've got a sugar crash. "

New research, published in the scientific journal EBioMedicine, tells a very different story. And it does so by observing people in real life, not in the laboratory. The conclusion is as simple as it is surprising: it's not the drop in glucose that tips the mood, but the moment when hunger becomes a sensation we're aware of.

In other words, the body may well be low on energy, but if the mind doesn't register hunger, mood remains stable. The study followed ordinary, everyday people for four weeks. Each wore a sensor that continuously monitored blood glucose levels. Several times a day, via an app, they were asked to indicate how hungry or full they felt, and what state of mind they were in at the time.

No imposed diet, no fixed schedule. Just normal days, with irregular meals, work, unforeseen events and fatigue. It was precisely here that the most interesting result emerged: glucose levels could fall sharply without mood changing in the slightest. Irritability only appeared when people started to say, "I'm hungry."

Glucose levels alone aren't enough. You need to feel it. This completely changes the way we look at hunger-related irritability. It's not an automatic process, nor a purely chemical reaction. It's something that passes through consciousness. When hunger remains in the background, the mood holds. When it becomes manifest, it's the mind that comes into play. That's when the physical signal is transformed into emotion.

Numerous previous studies have attempted to understand the link between hunger and mood under controlled conditions, with standardized meals and specific tests. The results were often contradictory. Some spoke of a strong link, others of an absence of effect. Observing daily life has shed light on this paradox. Our days are not regular. We sleep little, eat late, move unpredictably. And yet, in the midst of all this, one thing remains constant: when we feel hungry, our mood changes.

This observation is repeated in people with different lifestyles, body types and habits. It doesn't matter who you are or how you live. What matters is that this hunger reaches our consciousness. This discovery also opens up interesting avenues of reflection in terms of mental health. Mood disorders and metabolic problems often go hand in hand. A better understanding of the role of body awareness could help manage both.

The final message is simple. It's not our body that betrays us when we're hungry, but the way we interpret its signals. Hunger becomes an emotion the moment we recognize it as such. Listening to our bodies, without ignoring them or making a fuss about them, can help us to live more balanced days. Emotionally too.

(MP/©Greenme.it/Translation and adaptation: The Global Lifestyle/Pic: Unsplash)