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The Science Behind the Ice Cream Headache

Do you know why you get a brain freeze if you eat ice cream too fast? The reason behind the phenomena is pretty interesting. You can also reduce or eliminate the ice cream headache within moments, if you know the trick.

Your body has many different systems in place that are there to keep you healthy and alive. Sometimes, we experience common but interesting things with our bodies that we can’t quite understand. But rest assured, there is usually a reason behind it.

You take a big bite of ice cream or suck down an ice cold drink to quickly and what happens? You get a strange stabbing headache that comes out of no where and fortunately passes after a little while. But why is this happening? Are you really freezing your brain?

Actually, your brain isn’t involved at all, other than registering the pain and discomfort of the sensation. What is actually happening is that when the roof of your mouth, your palate registers the cold, it responds by first constricting and then swelling the blood vessels right there in your pallet. The way that your body is wired, you tend to feel the reaction in your forehead, thus giving you a headache.

Well, that is all interesting, you might say, but now tell me how to deal with it when it happens. Okay, you got it, and the solution is simple.

The best thing to do when an ice cream headache strikes is to slowly sip a warm beverage. If a warm beverage is not immediately available, place your tongue on the roof of your mouth, which should help warm your palate somewhat and erase the brain freeze.

Of course, the best thing to do is to avid getting an ice cream headache in the first place. The only way to do that is to slow down when you are eating.

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About Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, online content manager, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania in the middle of the woods but close enough to Target and Home Depot. The author of many magazine, newspaper and online articles, Mary Ann enjoys writing about almost any subject. "Writing gives me the opportunity to both learn interesting information, and to interact with wonderful people." Mary Ann has written more than 5,000 blogs for Families.com since she started back in December 2006. Contact her at maromans AT verizon.net or visit her personal blog http://homeinawoods.wordpress.com