Why does consuming cold food and drinks cause headaches?
How to explain the famous brain freeze? Is it dangerous?
Have a drink directly out of the fridge too soon or a cube of ice and it feels like our brains will explode. If migraines caused by ice cream are extremely unpleasant, most of us don’t mind because the pain only lasts a few seconds and is absolutely not dangerous. Which is a relief, because there’s no way to avoid it – except perhaps to cut down on the drinks and cold food too.
THE BRAIN IS PROTECTED FROM THE COLD
A team of US researchers has shown that a sudden drop in the temperature detected by receptors in the mouth causes a rush of (hot) blood in the anterior cerebral artery. This process is used by the brain as an essential defense system to maintain a constant temperature and continue to function properly. But this mechanism causes a parallel increase in blood pressure in the skull. This is the cause of the pain. To prevent the compression from becoming dangerous, the artery (re)expands almost immediately to remove excess blood to the rest of the body and preserve the brain.
Maureen Diament and Nur Syazana H.
