Low blood-sugar levels make for grousing spouses, study finds

Lower levels of blood sugar may make married people angrier at their spouses and even more likely to lash out aggressively, new research reveals.

In a 21-day study, researchers found that levels of blood glucose in married people, measured each night, predicted how angry they would be with their spouse that evening.

At the end of the 21 days, researchers had the couples come into the lab for another test. They asked each husband and wife to compete against their significant other in a virtual game. The couples were told the winner got to blast the loser with a loud, obnoxious noise. (In reality, their partner was not on the receiving end.)

Researchers measured how long and how intense the winner chose to blast the noise, and compared that aggression level to their average blood sugar level.

Study participants with lower nightly blood sugar levels were more aggressive – both in “pinning” their voodoo doll and in blasting their partner with a louder noise for longer. These findings remained true even after researchers controlled the data for relationship satisfaction.

Agencies/Canadajournal