When hunger strikes, do you notice yourself getting irritable? If so, you're far from alone. The colloquial term “hangry”—a blend or portmanteau of hunger and anger—has risen in popularity so much that in 2018, it actually became included in the Oxford English Dictionary. Defined as being irritable or bad-tempered due to hunger, feeling hangry is a common occurrence.

Recent research reveals that there may be a genetic component at play in feeling hangry. With AncestryDNA^® Traits, you could learn whether your genetic profile is similar to others who get hangry. It might just help you decide whether to keep snacks on hand so your hunger doesn’t turn into hanger.

Why Do Some People Get Angry When They're Hungry?

The physiological reason for angriness when hungry is linked to your body’s glucose levels. Your glucose level—the amount of sugar in your blood—is what gives you energy throughout the day. When that level drops because you haven't eaten in a while, your body releases a range of hormones to help keep your blood sugar levels where they need to be for you to function.

Those hormones, which include cortisol and adrenaline, are related to stress, aggression, and the fight-or-flight response. While some people don't notice a change in their personalities due to the increase in those hormones, others find themselves feeling increasingly frustrated over things that normally wouldn't be a big deal. Their frustration can easily turn to anger.

Low blood sugar levels (known as hypoglycemia) are also known to impair executive cognitive functions. These functions include complex cognitive tasks like impulse control, the ability to prioritize tasks and organize thoughts, and being able to stay focused.

Genetics and Hanger

If you find yourself hangry when your stomach starts rumbling, it's possible your genes play a role. AncestryDNA^® scientists surveyed nearly 318,000 people who were asked if they ever felt angry or irritable when hungry. The scientists found more than 70 DNA markers connected to getting hangry by using a genome-wide association study (GWAS). Some of those markers have been previously associated with physical features like body-mass index (BMI) and psychological features like emotional control.

Based on the DNA data and survey responses, the AncestryDNA^® team built a polygenic risk score (PRS), a statistical tool that can predict your predisposition for being hangry. AncestryDNA scientists attributed around 3% of the variation in the hangryness trait to differences in DNA. The rest is likely based on environmental factors, such as the kinds of foods you eat as well as when and how often you eat.

What Else Does Science Say About Being Hangry?

If you have the tendency to be a hangry person, there's good news. Besides keeping healthy snacks on hand, emotional self-awareness appears to reduce the risk of feeling hangry, even after fasting or missing a meal, based on a study of around 200 college students. This study had students either eat or fast before arriving at a lab. Some were asked to reflect on and write about their emotions while others wrote about something neutral. They were then tasked with a project on a computer that was programmed to crash as they were about to finish, and a researcher came in and blamed the student for the problem.

Those who hadn't eaten prior to the test project reported more stress and resentfulness, especially if they hadn't been in the group writing about their emotions. Their judgments were also more critical of the researchers. However, those who reflected upon their feelings first, regardless of whether they fasted or not, were less likely to report negative feelings.

Though the negative emotional impact of hunger is described as hanger, it doesn't exclusively cause angry reactions. Rather, it appears to amplify negative emotions and reactivity in general. It's also influenced in some part by the context of a situation. When you feel those first hunger pangs, you don't just suddenly get irritable, especially if you recognize the discomfort as hunger and get a nutritious snack. Hangryness may be a result of your emotional state—feeling uncomfortable or unpleasant due to hunger—but assigning those feelings as emotions linked to your current situation or environment.

Interesting Facts About Hanger

A survey by OnePoll reveals that hangryness is a real thing to many people. And it’s a much wider phenomenon than you might expect.

• 75% of American adults report hangryness at least five times per week.
• 44% report being hangry due to mealtime delays.
• 37% say they're too busy with work to stop and eat.
• 32% report becoming irritable and hangry due to not knowing what to cook.

The same poll also showed an uneven divide between genders. Parenting status, too, can play a role.

• 32% of men report never experiencing hangryness, whereas just 20% of women do.
• 42% of parents of young children (0-4 years old) are the most likely to feel hangry; 39% admit to snacking on their kids' foods to alleviate their hunger.

Hungry For More?

Wondering what your genetics have to say about whether you are more likely to feel hangry when you haven't eaten? AncestryDNA Traits can tell you. (If you've already received your AncestryDNA results, you can access your traits with an Ancestry^® subscription.) But whether you’re more or less likely to get hangry, having healthy snacks on hand could help you avoid the unpleasant feelings of hangryness.

References

Graveling, Alex J, et al. “Acute hypoglycemia impairs executive cognitive function in adults with and without type 1 diabetes.” Diabetes Care. September 14, 2013. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3781527/.

Gurarie, Marl. “Is Hangry Real? The Connection Between Anger and Hunger.” Verywell Health. June 24, 2023. https://www.verywellhealth.com/hangry-7499808.

“Hangry is officially a word in the Oxford English Dictionary.” ABC News. February 6, 2018. https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Food/hangry-officially-word-oxford-english-dictionary/story?id=52869807.

“hangry, adj.”Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press. July 2023. https://www.oed.com/dictionary/hangry_adj?tl=true.

Hill, W. D., et al. “A combined analysis of genetically correlated traits identifies 187 loci and a role for neurogenesis and myelination in intelligence.” Molecular Psychiatry. February 2019. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29326435.

“Is Being ‘Hangry’ Really a Thing ― or Just an Excuse?” Cleveland Clinic. June 7, 2021. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/is-being-hangry-really-a-thing-or-just-an-excuse/.

MacCormack, Jennifer K. and Kristen A. Lindquist. “Feeling Hangry? When Hunger Is Conceptualized as Emotion.” Emotion. 2019. https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/emo-emo0000422.pdf.

“New Study Finds American Adults Feel 'Hangry' Nearly Every Day.” Farm Rich. September 28, 2022. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-study-finds-american-adults-feel-hangry-nearly-every-day-301634796.html.

Preston, Casey. “Healthy Snacking Prevents Getting ‘Hangry’.” U.S. Preventive Medicine. October 3, 2019. https://www.uspm.com/a-healthy-snack-prevents-getting-hangry/.

Pulit, Sara L., et al. “Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for body fat distribution in 694 649 individuals of European ancestry.” Human Molecular Genetics. January 2019. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30239722.