Hangry
2026-03-27
---
Over the last several days, I've done several miles of walking as part of a trip. A few people are joining us on this trip, and as we pound the pavement, we all naturally burn a lot of calories. This leads to some members of our party becoming "hangry," or hungry and angry, around our regular mealtimes.
The phenomenon of being "hangry" seems to have become more and more common over the years. I see references to it in Internet memes, on mugs and tee shirts, and even in advertising for meals and snacks. I don't remember this phenomenon being very common a few decades ago--on the contrary, when I was young, I was taught that losing one's tempter due to hunger was extraordinarily rude.
Perhaps the rise of this term is so noticeable to me because I almost never experience it. Of course I get hungry every day, but I can't remember the last time I became openly impatient or lashed out at someone due to hunger. In our modern world of abundance, I know I'm eventually going to be satiated somewhere, and thus I find that I simple never get upset about it. When I see people getting "hangry" almost as a matter of course every day, I'm baffled at their behavior.
I've read some literature suggesting that the "hangry" behavior might genuinely be a new thing. Especially in America, we eat orders of magnitude more fructose today than we did fifty years ago. Studies have linked increased fructose consumption to increased aggressive behavior in wild bears, and some have suggested the same effect occurs in humans. I'm inclined to believe it; anecdotally, people I know seem to become more irritable when they next feel hungry after eating junk food.
---
[Last updated: 2026-03-27]