Lower blood sugar levels have been found to make married people angrier at their spouses.
In a 21-day study, researchers from the Ohio State University ran glucose level tests on 107 couples at the start and end of each day.
All participants were given a voodoo doll that they were told represented their partner, along with 51 pins. At the end of each day, the participants were asked to insert 0 to 51 pins in the doll, depending on how angry they were with their partner.
To measure aggression, the study participants competed against their partner on a 25-trial task, in which the winner blasted the loser with loud noise through headphones.
“Participants who had lower glucose levels stuck more pins into the voodoo doll and blasted their spouse with louder and longer noise blasts,” the psychologists reported to the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Self-control of aggressive impulses requires energy, and much of this energy is provided by glucose derived from the food we eat.”
At one point or another, most people have noticed when they get hungry, they also get cranky; and now there is a term – “hangry” – a combination of hungry and angry.
