Do you ever get hangry?
I know I do!
If you’re like most people, when you get hangry, you need something and you need it quick! You crave cookies, bagels, chips, donuts – something sugary or high in carbohydrates and something fast. While those may give you instant gratification – we all know it doesn’t last long – so if you want some better food choices when you’re hangry & why it’s important to your hormones – I’ll fill you in today!
What you’ll learn in this video (feel free to jump to what you’re interested in!):
0:43 What does insulin have to do with being hangry?
2:20 Insulin resistance & why it’s bad for our health
2:56 What to eat when you get hangry!
I can definitely get hangry.
It always amazes me that when I do, my body just wants that quick carbohydrate fix too! But I know that if I give in (and yes – it does happen!), I may get a quick boost of energy but then my energy drops way down just as quickly. And guess what? I’m hungry 10 minutes later!
Before we learn how to fix this, let’s learn about blood sugar balance.
Enter insulin.
Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas, an organ in our upper abdomen.
What does insulin do?
After we eat a meal our blood sugar normally rises. Insulin gets released and it tells our cells to absorb sugar. This allows our cells to use that sugar to make the energy we need to function well and complete our day to day activities. Meanwhile, our blood sugar levels return to normal.
So what’s the problem?
When we eat foods with a very high sugar content our blood sugars spike up really high, really quickly. This causes the pancreas to release a lot of insulin in order to deal with that high blood sugar and sometimes it overshoots the amount needed and too much sugar gets absorbed into the cell, which means our blood sugars actually drop down too low. This is called hypoglycemia. The next thing you know, you’re hungry again! So you’re reaching for another quick fix – another cookie or candy bar perhaps?
Setting the stage for insulin resistance
If this happens only once in a while, that’s not going to be an issue, but if your pancreas has to do this repeatedly, and you repeatedly eat foods that are too high in sugar (and we do this too often), our cells stop responding to insulin. They don’t absorb sugar as well anymore with the normal amount of insulin, so the pancreas has to make more and more insulin for the cell to respond to the same amount of sugar. This is called insulin resistance. Our cells become resistant to insulin – they no longer respond well to insulin, and this perpetuates unstable blood sugar levels.
Insulin resistance can play a role in weight gain, in pre-diabetes, type 2 diabetes and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
So what can we do about this?
Eat to keep our blood sugars more stable throughout the day – so insulin doesn’t go on a roller coaster ride. When you get hangry – reach for something that has some protein & healthy fat in it – not just sugar!
You want an apple? Great! Dip it in some natural almond butter.
Or maybe pack a hard-boiled egg for snack!
Out and about and a bagel is your best option on the road? Ok – but definitely choose whole wheat, maybe just eat half of it and top it with some peanut butter or cream cheese….and maybe you can sprinkle some extra pumpkin seeds you keep stashed at your desk to help.
With all of these options, adding protein & healthy fat to your snack slows down the release of sugar into your blood so insulin can be released in a more balanced way. That way – just enough sugar will be absorbed into your cells, and your blood sugar levels will stay stable throughout the day, so you don’t feel hangry.
Next week, we’ll be learning about one of our important stress hormones – and how it is also super important for regulating blood sugar and many other hormones.
Take care until then!
