Food, Hunger, and Health: Navigating the Complexities of our Relationship with Food

Hunger, anger, and hanger - three words that may seem unrelated but have a strong connection when it comes to food. The way we eat, or don't eat, can affect our mood, health, and overall well-being. There are harmful effects associated with hunger as well as overeating, such as headaches, fatigue, weakness, diabetes, heart disease, and eating disorders. However, we often tend to overlook them. Let’s explore the complex relationship between food, emotions and health. Let’s hope that by examining these issues, we could encourage a more mindful and sustainable approach to eating that promotes better health and well-being for all.

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While global food shortage is leading to global hunger among the downtrodden and we have programs like WFP addressing the issue, there are people in the world who like to remain hungry on purpose for health reasons or/and religious reasons. However, there are certain scientific and health issues related to hunger that are not discussed as often as they should be. Many people believe staying hungry is good for health, while others do it for cultural reasons. Although, Hunger can lead to many harmful effects including fatigue, weakness and malnourishment but one thing that people forget to mention is the troubled emotional state or hanger.

Apparently, hanger (hunger + anger) is a real thing. When we’re hungry, our bodies release hormones (cortisol + adrenaline) to compensate for body glucose. These hormones can affect your decision making, influence behaviour and change emotional states. Hunger also affects hypothalamus, the part of the brain which controls various body functions, such as emotional responses, sexual behaviour and body temperature among controlling other hormones. AgRP neurons in this region get activated and signal a “negative valence.” Negative valence is an uncomfortable emotion associated with fear, anxiety and anger. Research has proved that there is a direct relationship between gut and brain. Also, the gut has its own enteric nervous system called “the second brain” that according to a WP article “senses food and nutrients even when they don’t go through the mouth,” which means it’s not just about taste and feeling of food.

Although, these effects can be different for different people and some people might be more vulnerable towards hanger, you never know when the effect kicks in for someone. You might’ve seen some people getting extra frustrated, while others remain calm, when they’re hungry.

When a child is angry or crying, one of the three main reasons for that is hunger (illness or wetness being the other two). The mothers rush to feed them in order to calm the child down. From a scientific and evolutionary point of view, this whole process is a kind of defence mechanism, which motivates human beings to find food and cope with the desire of survival. Animals become more active and aggressive when they feel hungry. However, this still happens in the background, which means that the process is unconscious or automatic. Despite being conscious human beings, we often fail to sense our emotional state and even if we do, we can’t control it. The only solution seems to put something in the stomach. Interestingly, even some adults find it troublesome to understand hanger. The major reason for that is the brain-gut connection as explained above.

Some people would argue that research has also proven that “intermittent fasting” or IF is good for health. IF has specific instructions. It is not complete fasting. A necessary prerequisite of IF is hydration. You have to keep yourself hydrated. Water fools the gut-brain connection to an extent and controls the hanger.

Secondly, there are many types of IF, which include 16/8 (8 hours eating, 16 hours fasting), 5:2 (5 days eating), 20/4, OMAD (one meal a day), alternate day fasting, once a while 24 or 36 hours fasting. But remember, you have to remain hydrated in all of these methods. Thirdly, IF is not for everyone. One method can suit one kind of people and another for another group. For some people, it might not work at all. For example, some diabetic patients need to eat something every few hours, or else they can end up in coma or even die because hypoglycaemia. While, others can have other kind of negative effects. This should be done carefully.

During my PhD, we had an American colleague who was overweight and learnt about IF/Keto diet and started practicing it in order to lose weight. He did not lose weight at all and after a few months, one day he crashed. Doctors told him that due to excessive fasting, his body started burning his muscle protein and he couldn’t support his body. He spent a month in hospital and then he was on clutches. Had to leave his PhD in the mid to go back home.

Overeating is another issue. When you remain hungry for longer period of time or you know you’ve to remain hungry for a long time, you will tend to eat more. This affects your digestive system very badly and can cause gastric as well as intestinal and upper tract issues including GERD (reflux or acidity), indigestion, distention, diarrhoea or constipation.

When I used to work in pharmaceutical industry, the production of gastric medicines like antacids (milk of magnesia etc), proton-pump inhibitors (omerprazole etc), H2 blockers (famotidine, ranitidine) or their combinations would triple and quadruple before certain occasions. Overeating can also affect vital organs, such as heart, liver and kidneys. We also tend to eat more oily and sugary foods, which can cause fatty liver, cardiovascular diseases (high cholesterol, etc.) and insulin intolerance.

Food wastage is another problem that world is facing right now when around 1 billion people in the world go to bed hungry. We tend to waste a lot of food despite that. The trend goes upward during festivals. According to one estimate, 40% of food that is 54 billion kilograms (119 billion pounds) of food is wasted in US alone every year and it amount to $408 billion worth food.

A balanced diet with careful consideration to food types and timings is essential to a good health and longevity. We are already facing problems with the cardiovascular health, diabetes, kidney and liver diseases as well as availability and quality of food, water pollution, and food scarcity and if that is topped with carelessness, things are not gonna end up well. Eat healthy, live healthy and remember to stay hydrated, not just for yourself but also for other people.

Dr. Akif Khan is a physical scientist and a blogger. He can be followed at @akifzeb on Twitter.