Don’t get hangry: feed your brain healthy food | Brad Bushman | TEDxColumbus

One of the two best predictors of success in life is self-control (the other is intelligence). Professor Brad Bushman has been studying human aggression for over 25 years. Aggression often starts when self-control stops. Bushman discusses his research on the link between low self-control and aggression. He focuses on the link between levels of glucose (blood sugar) and self-control. Glucose provides our brain with the fuel it needs to exercise self-control, including control of angry feelings and aggressive impulses. Bushman’s research shows that when people become hungry, they also tend to become angry and aggressive, captured by the term “hangry” (hungry+angry). Healthy foods like veggies, fruits, and whole grains can make people less hangry. Self-control can also be strengthened, like a muscle, through exercise.

Brad J. Bushman (Ph.D. 1989, University of Missouri) is a professor of communication and psychology at The Ohio State University, and a professor of communication science at the VU University, Amsterdam. He holds the Margaret Hall and Robert Randal Rinehart Chair of Mass Communication. For over 25 years he has studied the causes, consequences, and solutions to the problem of human aggression and violence. He is a member of President Obama’s committee on gun violence, and has testified before the U.S. Congress on the topic of youth violence. He has published over 170 peer-reviewed journal articles. According to Google Scholar, his articles have been cited over 25,000 times. He is ranked #2 among communication scholars cited in Google Scholar. In 2014 he received the Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Media Psychology and Technology, American Psychological Association. His research has challenged several myths (e.g., violent media have a trivial effect on aggression, venting anger reduces aggression, violent people suffer from low self-esteem, violence and sex sell products, warning labels reduce audience size). (One of his colleagues calls him the “myth buster.”) His research has been published in the top scientific journals (e.g., Science, PNAS), and has been featured extensively in the mass media (e.g., BBC, New York Times, NPR).

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[laurawagoner]

Omg! This guy is hands down the best speaker I’ve seen in a long time and I only watch lectures. Never laughed so much in my life while learning at the same time! Needed that! Thx :)

[djr]

I totally agree with the part about *self control being the root cause of most societal ills*. I think that this is the key take home message, which is that: if every individual could put effort toward exercising moderation and mastering self control, self restraint, self discipline then (I believe) this would do more toward making the world the most awesome version of itself than any other factor!
If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at your life and make the change.

[lanceg]

This is because of some sort of social connection. When one is able to connect socially, beautifully, one is able to fill the void. You are able to pass the time because you are giving yourself some kind of positive stimulus. This is the key. The key to self control and delayed gratification is to keep feeding oneself with love, connection and compassion

[NehaZouis]

“Hangry” is not an unknown term to us, but this brilliant talk presented it so well! Snappy, irritable behaviours when hungry make so much more sense now. :D

[NomadicLiving]

It would have been interesting to include subjects who are low sugar and low carb - because most people are dependent on eating high levels of glucose and react much like drug addicts when sugar is taken away.

[KUBE.archvis]

I am glad he addressed feeding the brain with healthy food instead of sugar. I spent the majority of this talk thinking the results were probably a result of the temporary sugar high people experience. But improving anger through sugar intake is not sustainable. I think a similar study that involves calorie restriction might be interesting. One group that can eat all they want, the other with a calorie limit and neither group is allowed to eat sugary + processed foods.

[downbntout]

Yeah, there's this thing, it does work. You get the option to do it when you turn 10 or 13 or so. It's called self-parenting. Gotta learn how, but many don't, cause it's easier to be a tall infant, which is the default state.

[ravikandgule]

Wow!!!!.... One of the finest talks... Very informative... Presented in a very beautiful Thank you so Loved it.

[jihoneyk]

He was one of my favorite professors at University of Michigan!!💙💛

[anneanne]

Lovely speaker and very enjoyable talk. Thank you

[Pippemi]

I'll look up Brad Bushman now, I thought he gave a really well-rounded talk compared to most.

[WhiterockFTP]

No the problem here is that splenda is composed mainly of dextrose and maltodextrin, which is just fancy way of saying glucose - the reason it appears to have 0 calories (it has 4 per gram) is that any product under 5 calories is allowed to state that it has 0 calories, which makes this controlled trial completely unfortunately.

[Psychologielernende]

Good Talk. And I like the hypothesis. But from a scientific point of view I wish there could be less correlation and more causation...

[watermelonprince]

Great presentation with lot of humor and laughers. Very creative way of testing people's stress and aggression level. Myself do intermittent fasting. I notice in the beginning of hangry, we do become easy to get upset and angry. But if you let the fasting continue in to 24 hours or 48 hours, the opposite begin to happen. When our digestion completely shut down and our body switching the fuel from glucose to ketone. Our brain go into a special super mode with super alertness and our IQ increase. Those intense alertness are design to make us survive in extreme condition. I hope to do some test during those super alert mode. I believe we become more compassion, and tolerance during those state of consciousness. I experience it first hand.

[themultitalentedkrish]

తన కోపమే తన శత్రువు
తన శాంతమె తనకు రక్ష దయ చుట్టంబౌ
తన సంతోషమె స్వర్గము
తన ధుఃఖమె నరకమండ్రు తథ్యము సుమతీ !

భావము : ఎవరికైననూ తన కోపమే తనకు శత్రువగును. తన శాంతమే తనకు రక్షణగా
నిలుచును. తను చూపెడి దయాగుణమే బంధువులవలె సహకరించును.
తానూ సంతోషముగా నుండగలిగినచో అది స్వర్గముతో సమానము. తాను
ధుఃఖమును చేతులార తెచ్చుకొనినచో అదియే నరకమగుట తథ్యము.

[JustASmallTownGirl]

Well he just diagnosed me with low self control..I feel personally attacked🤣

[lexciwally]

In Jamaica we always say a hungry man is a hangry man...Didn't know it was a thing

[Avalon_]

Anger is bad. It is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

[Something-like-Chopin]

The most entertaining and informative talk ever.😚
thanks.

[zelenplav]

Self control has its limits when a person is continuously marginalized and disrespected through their life. Anger turns to depression because you have no power to change things, along with malnutrition (very common in USA) which makes control harder. Alcohol anyone? Self medication and all its problems. People snap and kill others because if the build up of various negative occurrences. Eating wisely, supplementing with minerals and vitamins has made all the difference.