You probably laughed when you saw the Marsha
Snickers Ad on television during the 2015 Super Bowl. I sure did—and not
just because it was a brilliant spoof of how the oldest, “perfect” Brady Bunch daughter/sister
might have had a melt-down because she got too hungry. The sketch is perfect in
its 1970s retro feel, with the ever-patient Carol Brady (Florence Henderson) placating her cranky
daughter with the following suggestion: “Marsha, eat a Snickers.”
“Why?” Cranky Marsha (Danny Trejo) demands.
“Because you get a little hostile when you’re hungry,” Mrs. Brady
explains. After just one bite, Cranky Marsh transforms back into Cute Marsha (Maureen McCormick).
“Better?” Mrs. Brady asks with a knowing smile.
“Better!” Cute Marsha says with a grin.
Did this ad hit home for anyone else? Do you ever feel cranky or get
overly frustrated when you are hungry? If so, you are not alone. Hunger—which
is the most obvious “symptom” of low blood sugar—can also be accompanied by a
variety of other physiological and psychological responses. As I explained in
my blog titled What
Do You Eat?, nutrition plays a huge role in how we perceive and respond to events
in our environment.
Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D. observed that
low blood-sugar levels can exacerbate or even cause a person’s presenting
problem (behavior or belief). For example, a sudden drop in blood sugar can
trigger physical symptoms such as shaking, light-headedness and feeling tired,
or even psychological symptoms such as depression, paranoia, irritability and
memory problems. Furthermore, Dr. Kappas found an association between a
person’s low blood-sugar levels and fluctuating suggestibility with the onset
of a phobic response. This (irritability) reaction is illustrated in the advertisement
when Cranky Marsha threatens to strike her sister with an axe for punching her
in the nose. The script implies that with the candy in her system because she
is no longer hungry, Marsha will calm down to the point of being coolly
dismissive of her sister; or, at least she would no longer want to attack poor
Jan with an axe.
I
have to hand it to the creators of this ad: they were very clever to associate
increased/decreased emotional volatility with hunger and tie the amelioration
of this reaction with eating their product. There is certainly no doubt that
eating something when we are hungry makes
us feel better and more like our normal selves. However, if the food source is
high in sugar and other carbohydrate sources as a candy bar no doubt is, this
relief will be short-lived. Once the initial sugar boost wears off, we will
likely in the same situation.
Consequently, when I work with my hypnotherapy clients, regardless of
their therapeutic goal, one of the first things I explain is the role of good nutrition
and how what they eat can affect how they behave and think. For example, while the
peanuts in a Snickers® bar are a good source of protein, the sugar and many other
ingredients that make this item so tasty undermine the healthy “benefit” the
manufacturers might promote. Conversely, that handful of peanuts would be a
great snack on their own because these legumes are a good source of protein
that will help to assuage hunger and reduce moodiness and anxiety.
For more information about how nutrition affects mood and behavior, and
other practical techniques to help reduce anxiety, I invite you to read my
blogs titled The
Origins of Fears and Phobias and Irritability.
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors
from the Hypnosis Motivation
Institute in 2005. For more
information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an
appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2016
