14 DAY TRIAL // Ice cream is nothing short of heavenly, many agree. The only problem is that, every once in a while, it gives us brief but fairly disturbing headaches. To most people, such experiences are known as brain freezes.
Interestingly enough, it appears that the proper moniker is sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia. Good luck reading this official name for brain freezes, let alone remember it.
As detailed in the video below, ice cream gives us these very specific headaches because, almost as soon as our mouth and the back of our throat cool down, a key blood vessel expands.
This blood vessel is named the internal carotid artery, and it carries oxygenated blood to our brain. Hence, having a wider internal carotid artery translates into increased blood flow to the vessels nestled between our neurons.
Researchers say that it is this sudden increase in blood flow to the brain that causes the headaches we experience when eating ice cream and other cold treats.
More precisely, scientists who have taken the time to study this phenomenon say that the pain is most likely the result of an increase in the pressure that our brain is exposed to.
The good news is that, eventually, the pain goes away. Until the next time we reach out for a frozen drink or a banana split, that is.
