Turns out, staying hungry for long could negatively impact your mood and also increase stress levels. According to a latest study published in the journal Psychopharmacology, sudden drop in glucose when you are hungry could severely affect your current mood and emotional behaviour. Through the study, the researchers set out to investigate whether chronic, long-term hypoglycemia -- low blood sugar -- is a risk factor for developing depression-like behaviours.
"We found evidence that a change in glucose level can have a lasting effect on mood," said Professor Francesco Leri from University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.
To study the impact of a sudden glucose drop on emotional behavior. The rats were injected with a glucose metabolism blocker causing them to experience hypoglycemia.
They were then placed in a specific chamber. On a separate occasion, they were injected water and placed in a different chamber.
When given the choice of which chamber to enter, they actively avoided the chamber where they experienced hypoglycemia.
"This type of avoidance behaviour is an expression of stress and anxiety," said Leri.
"The animals are avoiding that chamber because they had a stressful experience there. They don't want to experience it again," she added.
The blood levels of the rats were tested after they experienced hypoglycemia. They happened to find more corticosterone -- an indicator of physiological stress, which suggests that animals experienced stress and depressed mood when they were hypoglycemic.
The rats also appeared more sluggish when given the glucose metabolism blocker.
"When people think about negative mood states and stress, they think about the psychological factors, not necessarily the metabolic factors. But we found poor eating behaviour can have an impact," lead researcher Thomas Horman from University of Guelph said.