Feeling Hangry? You Should Be!
Hangry — irritable or angry because of hunger
Several studies suggests that short term fasting can increase negative emotions such as irritability, anger, fatigue and tension.
So true!
I have been fasting for the past 24 hours and the above sentence feels so true right now. I can take on the hunger, but these amplified emotions are too much.
I don’t usually fast except for this one day in a year which according to the Hindu tradition is the birthday of Shri Krishna.
Fasting (upvasa or vrat in Hindi) is an important Vedic tradition but not mandatory. I don’t know the relationship between Krishna’s birthday and fasting, but this is what I do every year.
I am not here to discuss my religion but for the effect of fasting.
Fasting
Fasting is an ancient tradition followed by many cultures and it has many health benefits scientifically speaking.
The modern lifestyle involves short fasting period, high caloric diets and sedentary lifestyles leading to increase in diseases like diabetes, obesity etc.
Fasting can be classified into short — term fasting (intermittent fasting) and prolonged fasting.
Intermittent fasting consists of different time allocation methods with the most common one being the 16/8 method which includes 16 hours of, “Damn it! I am hungry” and 8 hours of, “ATLAST, FOOD!! Does fasting even works?” There are also 18/6 and 20/4 methods of doing the same thing.
Usually, the caloric intake on fasting day is supposed to be 25% of the daily caloric intake. Since I was feeling adventurous, so I decided to go for no food at all. (Don’t worry I am about to have my dinner.)
Fasting affects our metabolism but let’s see the psychological effects.
Psychological Effects of Fasting
In a study including 18-hour fasting period in healthy women, researchers observed that fasting could result in heightened irritability but also an increase in positive emotional experiences, including a sense of achievement, reward, pride, and control.
In another two-day fasting study, it was shown that short-term fasting can increase negative emotions and reduce positive emotions, including lower perceived work performance.
Come on scientific studies, you are supposed to educate me, not confuse me.
Reasoning for Contradicting Results
- For people fasting for religious reasons while strongly believing their religious beliefs, fasting can be pleasant experience giving them a sense of achievement and can lead to positive effects. But fasting for other reasons may bring forth the negative feelings bursting out.
- It was found that individuals who had never fasted before reported higher levels of negative mood states, increased stress, and lower vitality when compared to those who had prior fasting experience. So, it gets better with time.
- Initial baseline of mental state is also important. An already irritated person will get more irritated when hungry.
- Emotional regulation is sensitive to glucose. Fasting do decrease the glucose levels and people with poor glucose tolerance shows signs of poor emotional regulation and vice versa.
So being angry is quite a normal response to fasting. If you really have to fast, stay hydrated and try to distract yourself by writing an article about being hangry.
