MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why do we get ice cream headaches?

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why do we get ice cream headaches?

It’s happened to all of us. That ice cream, milkshake, or cold treat looks so good that you just want to eat or drink it as fast as possible. Then we all pay the price when our head starts throbbing. But why does this happen?

When you eat or drink something one of the first things it touched in your mouth is the palate, or the “roof of your mouth”. When something very cold touches it in the center the cold temperature of the substance sets off alarms on the nerves that control the blood flow to you head. The response by the nerves is to make the blood vessels swell up, causing that dreaded sensation known as a “Brain Freeze”. The ironic part is that it’s not really affecting you brain at all. It’s just the blood vessels.

So next time you have that cold treat just take it slow.

 

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