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Think back to the last screaming “I hate you right now!” argument you had with your partner. Then think about the last time you ate before that fight.
Were you hungry at the time? If the answer is yes, you are so, so not alone. A new study out of Ohio State University, led by Brad Bushman, Ph.D., has found a direct link between your blood sugar levels and how angry you get with your partner.
The study focused on 107 couples, most of whom had been married for more than 10 years. Over a three week period, researchers encouraged these couples to stick pins in voodoo dolls that represented their spouses whenever they felt angry. At the end of the study they even gave the couples a chance to blast each other with bursts of horrible noise, like dentist drills and nails on chalk boards.
Over the course of the study, researchers also looked at the couples’ blood glucose levels.
The angriest spouses were… you guessed it, also the hungriest. Those who regularly had below-normal blood glucose levels stuck the most pins in their voodoo dolls, and they were also the ones who subjected their partners to the longest, loudest sound blasts.
Keeping an emotion as powerful as anger in check is a hard task, and it gets much harder when you haven’t eaten. “Without adequate fuel in the form of glucose, the part of the brain responsible for curtailing angry impulses—the prefrontal cortex—simply doesn’t have enough resources to exert self-control,” Bushman told The Greatist.
These findings don’t mean that hunger is to blame for all of your interpersonal discontent, but dealing with your issues on an empty stomach certainly won’t do you any favours.
So, the next time you’re about to fight with your spouse (or enter into any conflict-prone situation for that matter), have a handful of nuts or an apple first.
Via The Greatist
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