Why do we get brain-freeze?!
Question: every time we eat/drink, something cold??? what causes brain freeze?
Answers: every time we eat/drink, something cold??? what causes brain freeze?
Hi,
Ask Yahoo! covered this topic some time ago, only back then we called it "ice cream headache." Fortunately, the answer remains the same.
According to an article published from the British Medical Journal, the condition occurs when "extremely cold foods or beverages touch the roof of the mouth and set in motion a chain of events. When the nerves that travel to the brain are stimulated, the blood vessels in the front of the head expand and contract like they do during a migraine headache."
Even though the pain lasts only a few seconds, it's usually quite awful. So, to avoid brain freeze, follow these steps from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution...
1. Slow down and eat cold foods slowly.
2. Warm cold food in the front part of your mouth before swallowing.
3. If you feel an ice cream headache coming on, hold your tongue to the top of your mouth to "warm the palate." This may lessen the pain.
Mike
When the cold stuff touches the top of your mouth, it initiates a nerve reaction that swells blood vessels in your head. The nerve center on the roof of your mouth then overreacts to the cold temperature of the ice cream and tries to heat your brain. This swelling of blood vessels is what causes an ice cream headache, or "brain freeze". Luckily, the intense stabbing pain in your head usually lasts only for about 30-60 seconds. But if you get brain freeze, you're not alone:
30% of the human population suffers from these cold headaches.
And the best way to avoid getting an ice cream headache is keep the chilled foods or drinks you eat on the side of your mouth, away from the roof of your mouth.
If you get brain freeze rub your tounge on the roof of you mouth. It helps it go away faster.
Eating something frozen too fast and shaking the frozen stuff in your mouth.