THE COLD TRUTH ABOUT ICE CREAM
GEETA PADMANBHAN
The pista ice
cream proudly sporting the green wafer looks delicious. It is rock solid — a
Himalayan peak in miniature. A quick spoonful into the mouth — aaaaaah! A
sharp, shooting pain travels to the head! One moment, I'm enjoying a scoop of
ice cream, the next, my mind is numb and my face, scrunched in agony. Did a
rare germ survive in the cup to attack the brain? A mini powder bomb? Ah, no,
it's the brain freeze. You've had the dreaded ice-cream headache, right? There
you are, biting into an ice candy or sipping a milk shake, and suddenly you are
hit with the most awful headache! But don't blame the candy, it's not acting
alone. The roof of your mouth, your nerves and blood vessels are involved too! “This happens because of the sudden change in
temperature at the roof,” explained Dr. L. P. Mohan, dental surgeon. “In
medical terms, there's vasodilatation, (dilatation of blood vessels) triggering
local pain receptors causing prostaglandins to be released, which cause pain,
sensitivity and inflammation at the site of release. This localised pain is
taken up by the trigeminal nerve to send signals to the brain. Since the
trigeminal nerve senses pain from the entire face through its many branches,
the brain interprets the signal of the brain freeze to be coming from the
forehead, hence causing discomfort in that region. The attack is called
Spenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia — neuro being nerves, algia being pain.
Spenopalatine ganglia are the nerves of the palate.” Phew! All of this is a
mouthful, so let's stick with “brain freeze!”
Joseph Hulihan
put it this way: when something cold touches the roof of the mouth, an alarm
goes off. The “cold” signal tells the brain to keep itself warm, and the rush of
blood builds up pressure that can lead to a headache. There is dilation of
blood vessels, caused by a nerve centre located above the roof of your mouth —
when this nerve centre gets cold, it seems to over-react. The “delicious” pain
was unravelled by researchers from Harvard University, the University of
Ireland, and the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Volunteers were given ice
water (no ice-cream!), and a trans-cranial Doppler measured the rush of blood
to the anterior cerebral artery, the part of the brain that funnels oxygen to
the frontal lobe. Funny why it should be called brain freeze. The pain
associated with brain freezes is the result of rapid cooling and warming,
causing your blood vessels to contract and then dilate quickly. Your body looks
at the rapid temperature change in your mouth as an indication of a dangerously
cold environment, and so your blood cells contract to conserve body heat. As
the substance is swallowed, your blood cells return to their previous size and
it is this oscillation that is so painful. If you've noticed, a brain freeze
starts after you've swallowed your bite!
Typically, the
pain strikes within 10 seconds of the “ice cream attack” and lasts for about 20
seconds (It feels like much longer!). But it may spread to the teeth, warns Dr.
Mohan. “Though the teeth are not directly involved in the brain freeze
mechanism, the sudden exposure to cold may affect teeth,” he said. “The teeth
may go in for a thermal shock — a sharp pain. This affects the vital pulp
tissue lying beneath the enamel and dentine. You get ‘teeth freeze.'” All this
is not going to make you swear off ice-cream, no way! You don't have to feel
helpless either. “Stop cold food from touching the roof of your mouth,” says
Dr. Mohan. “Quickly warm the roof of your mouth with your tongue. (It eases the
surge of blood flow to your brain.) Better still, avoid extremely cold food. Or
choose a slightly warmer environment. This will reduce the impact of cold
food.” And best of all, eat cold foods slowly. Give your “oral environment”
time to get used to change in temperature gradually, while you relish the
creaminess and the flavour. Brain freeze goes away on its own. It's not
dangerous and you are not ill.
Prof. John Kurakar
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