Brain Freeze When Eating Ice Cream? Beware of Migraine Link
Have you ever experienced a sudden sharp headache while enjoying ice cream on a hot day? This freezing sensation in the head is commonly known as brain freeze. According to scientists, this condition is medically termed cold-stimulus headache.
“This ice cream headache is extremely common. It’s harmless, coming and going,” says Amaal Starling, a neurologist at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, United States.
Brain freeze occurs due to rapid cooling of the roof of the mouth or back of the throat. This causes blood vessels to constrict quickly before being forced to expand again to restore blood flow. Pain nerve fibres in the blood vessel walls connect to the trigeminal nerve, which processes pain signals in the forehead and face. Hence, the pain is felt in the forehead, not inside the mouth.
A global study spanning four decades by Irene Toldo, Professor of Paediatric Neurology at the University of Padua, Italy, revealed interesting findings. Brain freeze tends to run in families. Besides genetic factors, an individual’s sensitivity to brain freeze is heavily influenced by their history of headaches or migraines.
“People with migraines typically experience higher intensity of this type of headache,” Toldo stated.
A small study even showed that 93% of migraine sufferers often experience brain freeze with moderate to severe discomfort, whereas only one-third of non-migraine sufferers report it.
Due to its close link with the trigeminal nerve, scientists have used artificially induced brain freeze in laboratories since the 1960s to study migraine mechanisms. The instant response to cold stimulation helps researchers understand blood flow changes and neural complexity without waiting for unpredictable natural migraine attacks.
For those frequently experiencing severe brain freeze, Starling advises reviewing your headache history, as many people consider migraines normal and avoid consulting a doctor.
To prevent brain freeze, the key is to slow down when consuming cold foods or drinks, allowing the mouth’s roof time to adapt. If the freezing sensation has already set in, a quick remedy is to use the underside of your tongue to warm the roof of your mouth, Starling suggests. If your tongue is also cold, use your thumb or sip warm water as alternatives. (BBC/Z-2)
Urban consumers, in particular, are increasingly attentive to sugar, calorie, and ingredient composition in their daily products. The Indonesian fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry remains dynamic, with the ice cream sector becoming increasingly competitive in recent years. Halocoko chocolate ice cream company has secured an Indonesian World Records Museum (MURI) record for the most ice cream distributed in a single year in Indonesia.