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It's a sweltering summer day, so you take a big sip of a refreshing, frozen coffee--and you're immediately doubled over with throbbing head pain.
Why do frosty foods give us headaches? New research has shed light on the possible causes (and cures) of the phenomenon known as brain freeze.
When a frozen treat comes in contact with the roof of your mouth, it triggers nerves that alert your brain of the temperature change. In response, the anterior cerebral artery dilates and increases blood flow to the brain's frontal lobe to help keep it warm and protected, says Jorge Serrador, M.D. of Harvard Medical School, lead researcher on a recent study which identified the mechanisms at work during what's commonly called brain freeze.
Researchers believe that the additional blood flow to the frontal lobe increases pressure in the skull, which brain receptors process as pain. This could explain why the frontal lobe is the area of the brain that feels "frozen" post-popsicle, Serrador says.
Here are three ways to avoid the big chill:
1. Tongue It
Can you curl your tongue? Good. Fold the tip of it backward and stick the bottom of your tongue to the roof of your mouth. The warmth will help heat up the nerves in your palette and cause the blood flow to your brain to normalize, Serrador says.
2. Slurp Slowly
To make study participants get brain freeze, Serrador had them suck down ice water like thirsty maniacs. Why? "The only way to get a brain freeze is to drink or eat whatever it is [that's cold] really fast," he says. If you drink (or eat) more slowly, you give your blood time to heat the tissue in the roof of your mouth and avoid triggering a cold-induced headache. So slow down and savor your treat.
3. Warm Your Hands
Your hands might not be cold, but acting like they are can make your mouth warmer, Serrador says. Cup your hands around your mouth like you would in the winter and exhale deeply. It will trap warm air in your mouth and help thaw your noggin.
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Leave a Comment:
When I get it I just sip a room temp sip of something. It takes it away instantly.
How fast do you really need to ingest ice cream anyways?? It's a treat and should be eaten in moderation....
Ice cream might be eaten slowly but never moderately, ice cream is heaven on earth. Vanilla is the only ice cream the can properly be combined with other ingredients to create a world of wounder it is the base, heart, and soul of all creams. If it stands alone when it gets to that properly melted state MMMMMMM!
Very poetic, Bubba!
You want an instantaneous cure for brain freeze? Keep a glass of room temperature to luke warm water next to you if you're having brain freeze inducing products. When you feel brain freeze coming on, drink a gulp or two of the water. The pain will dissipate within 1-3 seconds guaranteed.
What if I like the sting of brain freeze?! Am I the only one?
Very nice comment Bubba, Ben and Jerry's should recruit you for your expertise.
Sounds like you have the palate for the taste testing job.
Yes James, you are the only one! :D
I also like the sting of putting on "New Skin" liquid bandaid. Not sure why though.
sounds like you enjoy paid
For the rest of your life, would you rather get brain freeze for 20 minutes a day, or only drive a wood panel PT Cruiser everywhere you go?
A completely realistic question.
PT Cruiser. Brain freeze really hurts and 20 minutes is a long time.
Do we have to pay for and maintain the Cruiser or it that taken care of? If the car is free with free maintenance for life, I'm taking the car.
PT Cruiser. Maintenance on the thing was pretty cheap and there is no way that I am suffering through brain freeze for 20 minutes every day.
PT Cruiser...just wish they were still making them. best car i ever owned!!
I'll take the brain freeze over driving a half-hearse.
I'd take the Cruiser; I like station wagons & a Cruiser comes pretty close.
"I'll take the brain freeze over driving a half-hearse."
LMAO TO FUNNY
Or you can breathe really deep through your nose to bring the pallet of your mouth back up to room temperature quickly.
And I actually thought that this article would tell me something new.
Same here!!
I wonder who funded this mind blowing research.
And at the beginning of the Summer, not the end. How about some tips for a Memorial Day BBQ?
geez, my dentist told me about the folded tongue thing 30+ years ago... where do I go to get some of this "easy" study funding????
Yeah, I agree! How is this a news article?
the authors just wanted to finish their phds.
I want to know if this brain freeze could cause brain damage.
Only to yours
Wow BP-2252891, you can be sarcastic, she only asked a logical question.
I am not convinced that the roof of your mouth is the only trigger area for a brain freeze. I believe that some area of the esophagus or stomach is also a trigger. The core of the body has a sudden drop in temperature from eating cold stuff too fast and a danger signal results in a brain freeze.
If the article actually named which nerves send the signal to the brain to dilate the articles, it would help resolve at least part of this question. I always thought it was the sphino-palatine ganglion, one of the largest bundles of nerves outside the brain, that caused this problem, as it is just above the palate. But if there are other nerves with similar pathways to the brain, then there could be alternative causes.
Is this similar to, or the same as, what my mother-in-law was referring to when she would ask my children when they ate something cold, "Did your pipes freeze?" I would agree this also affects the esophagus, as I've had great pain in that area of my chest sometimes when swallowing something extremely cold. Almost like you can't breath and very painful.
I'm convinced it is the roof of the mouth. I haven't had a brain freeze since I got my upper denture.
I was thinking the same thing....I get excrutiating pain in my esophagus and chest from taking a slurp of a shake or smoothie. And typically I'm out somewhere and do not have access to a room temperature beverage. Isn't that part of the joy of eating that sort of thing? Being out with family or friends on vacation and stopping for ice cream?
First Higgs-Boson, now brain freeze explained. We now know everything there is to know.
Except for that whole chicken-or-egg conundrum.
the rooster came 1st.
The glass is half full if you're filling it, and half empty if you're drinking it...
Confucius say go to bed with itchy butt, wake up with smelly fingers.
Very lame article. Exceeded in stupidity only by your comments! lmao
It's palate, not pallette. Rural washington state perspective got it right but author of the article obviously relied on spell check.
When I get a migraine headache, I induce a brain freeze on purpose because it helps relieve the migraine. When I have a migraine it actually feels good to get a brain freeze.
That's extremely interesting. Does it interrupt the migraine or simply deaden the pain temporarily? It could lend a clue to determining the mechanism of your migraines.
It deadens the pain. If I do it a few times my migraine goes away.
The interesting part of the study is that the roof of you mouth measures the temperature of the environment and then regulates blood flow to the brain accordingly.
Take the bowl, cup, or spoon that you are eating with or an ice cube and put it on your forehead when you get a brain freeze. It will stop it instantly. Using it as a cure for migraine is beneficial also.
You are so correct! I've done that for years whenever brain freeze occurred!
This was about brain freeze? Sorry I got distracted by the model's disgusting dirty fingernails!!
Yuck! I just noticed that!
Well, it is a kid but still YUCK!
There's never enough toilet paper at those State Fairs!
It's just a disgusting photo in every way...saliva on the sprinkles...blood red ice cream...dirty fingernails!
I couldn't get past the fingernails either - but notice his booger fingernail is kept trimmed. Add this picture to the one with the kid having his foot print immortalized in homemade plaster on Pinterest. Seriously poor hygiene not to mention latent bruises... on a toddler.
Um - EAT SLOWER.
OMG - this is what research (tax) dollars are spent on?
Ah yes, that high Harvard Tuition dollars at work. What's next for the brainiacs at Harvard? How to get the hard crusties out of your eyes in the morning?
Wash around eyes with a drop of baby shampoo.
Train your dog to lick them.
Ehh....they could have just asked me how to do it. STOP EATING THE ICE CREAM SO FAST!!
FIRST you have to have a BRAIN to get brain freeze... This condition is RARELY found in our NATION'S CAPITAL ! But if you DO happen to chug-a-lug too much frozen margarita or pina colada, slam down a small glass of room temperature water. Works every time...
Another soothing quick way to stop brain freeze is to take your thumb, place it directly on the roof of your mouth and exhale. Works every time for me. Try it!
Tip #4 - I can't believe this wasn't listed, since it was common knowledge since I was a kid - simply take your cold drink and hold the side of the cup to your forehead. Works every time. A little hard with ice cream, since you'd have to use the wrapper or cup.
I can't belive there needed to be a study in order to understand why you get brainfreeze from eating cold things too fast... Talk about a complete waste of money!
NBC needs better editors with regards to articles they choose to include within a health or science section.
This is hardly new research...just a quick Google will reveal that...there have been articles dating back years that indicate the mechanism -- cold food or beverage coming in contact with the roof of the mouth (palate) causing referred pain due to increased blood flow.
In fact, here is a link to an article in the British Medical Journal submitted in 1997 and published in 1998 stating the exact same mechanism that NBC and apparently the researchers here state is "new". See page 11 of the link below of a pre-med journal that also references this study. You will also see references to this article dating back to 1941.
Ice Cream Headache: http://www.bmj.com/content/314/7091/1364
UIC Pre-Med Journal with Reference to Above Study: http://www2.uic.edu/orgs/jphas/journal/vol0/vol2_no1.pdf
I think this research was "new" to the person who wrote the article but that does not mean it is new to science. It only expands or repeats previously done research. So, while the topic may be interesting to those who were unaware of it, if the article is in the health or science section, the writing needs more scrutiny since topics on health and science require accuracy.
I never, never drink or eat cold things while I'm driving.
The last time I had brain freeze was several years ago and it actually made me pass out for a few seconds.
I always get brain freezes when I have a slurpee. The tongue on the roof of the mouth thing DOESN'T WORK. At least on me.
A slurpee will do it to me every time. The tongue on the roof of my mouth works a couple of times but after a while my tongue is too cold to make a difference.
I will try the cold cup to the forehead though. One never knows.
How do you get rid of brain freeze caused by waves breaking over your head while surfing on a winter day?
Get out of the water.
Wear a wet suit - works for ice cream too. The diving flippers make it hard to chase the ice cream truck though.