Sometimes ice cream or very cold drinks cause headaches. Neuroscientists from the Virginia Institute of Technology in the US have explained how they can avoid this: you just need to take it slower and warm the palate with your tongue – this will relieve the headaches from freezing, writes. portal neuroscience news.
“One of the important functions of your brain is to ensure that certain parts of your body stay within certain temperature ranges. The head is particularly important, so the normal response to a cold stimulus inside the head is to try to rewarm the area. This is achieved by rapidly increasing the flow of warm blood through the blood vessels in the palate. This sudden expansion of blood vessels is felt by nerve cells, but unfortunately the brain interprets it as something painful.”
According to researchers, anyone can face such a situation. Experts recommend either drinking something at room temperature to reduce the effect of the sudden cold, or pressing your tongue against your palate to quickly warm the area around your mouth.
“You can eat cold foods more slowly to give your body time to adjust to the temperature. Then the probability of such headaches will be less, ”concluded neuroscientists.