Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff.
Speaker 1: I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today's episode is another classic from
Speaker 1: our archives and former host Christian Sagar. This one concerns
Speaker 1: the diabolical phenomenon the results from Delicious Frozen Treats brain Freeze,
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, it's Christian Sagar. We get headaches for
Speaker 1: a lot of reasons. Sometimes foods like chocolate, cheese or
Speaker 1: cured meat can cause them. Other times it's stress or
Speaker 1: maybe changes in our sleep habits. Headaches are also caused
Speaker 1: by eye strain, sinus problems, coughing, and even sex and
Speaker 1: if you're really unlucky, they're a sign of neurological problems.
Speaker 1: But do you know what causes headaches and over one
Speaker 1: third of the population. Ice cream? Diabolical evil ice cream
Speaker 1: otherwise known as a brain freeze or a quote cold
Speaker 1: stimulus headache in more lofty circles. The ice cream headache
Speaker 1: only requires two things. First, something cold touching the roof
Speaker 1: of your mouth, and second, a hot environment like a
Speaker 1: summer day or a sauna or a yoga class full
Speaker 1: of sweaty people. That's where we all usually eat ice cream. Right,
Speaker 1: brain freeze is caused by both a constriction and dilation
Speaker 1: of the blood vessels in your head. There's a nerve
Speaker 1: center just above your mouth, and when it gets cold,
Speaker 1: it signals the anterior cerebral artery to widen, trying to
Speaker 1: heat your brain with warm blood. Since the skull is
Speaker 1: a closed structure, the sudden rush of blood could be
Speaker 1: increasing pressure, which causes the pain we feel. It's kind
Speaker 1: of a horrible stabbing achy feeling, but the warm air
Speaker 1: around you causes these blood vessels to restrict again, relieving
Speaker 1: the pain about ten to twenty seconds after its onset.
Speaker 1: This experience, it's is reportedly similar to a migrain headache,
Speaker 1: albeit a very short one. It's possible the influx of
Speaker 1: blood is supposed to protect your brain from extreme cold.
Speaker 1: The pain is usually in the mid frontal area, but
Speaker 1: it can be unilateral in other parts of the brain.
Speaker 1: But don't worry. Experts say that ice cream isn't going
Speaker 1: to give you brain damage or anything. In fact, when
Speaker 1: they're correcting aneurysms, doctors sometimes lower your brain temperature down
Speaker 1: to sixty four degrees fahrenheit or seventeen point eight degrees celsius,
Speaker 1: So ice cream ain't no thing, except there's only one
Speaker 1: cure for brain freeze. Never eat ice cream again. No,
Speaker 1: I'm just kidding. In one article about these headaches, a
Speaker 1: researcher actually said ice cream abstinence is not indicated, So
Speaker 1: keep eating all the ice cream you want, but slow
Speaker 1: it down a bit. There, Hoss, try to eat in
Speaker 1: small bites and avoid the roof of your mouth. Also,
Speaker 1: you may be more likely to get brain freeze if
Speaker 1: you already get migraines. The science isn't confirmed on that,
Speaker 1: but since the vascular response of ice cream headaches is
Speaker 1: similar to the experience of migraine sufferers, they may be
Speaker 1: more vulnerable. Researchers are investigating this connection now in hopes
Speaker 1: of developing even better painkillers. Today's episode was written by
Speaker 1: Christian and produced by Tyler Klang. For more on this
Speaker 1: and lots of other topics, visit our home planet, how
Speaker 1: Stuffworks dot com plus. For more podcasts. For my heart radio,
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Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.