A good sign per se: Coughing while eating ice cream: ENT doctor explains why it's happening
When the sun shines and the temperatures rise, the logical next step for many people is to treat themselves to ice cream. It's just annoying if you constantly have to cough while eating ice cream. Why, exactly?
Coughing is a natural mechanism of the body. When we have a cold, the body tries to get rid of mucus. If we choke, we free ourselves from the foreign body. But why do we sometimes cough while eating ice cream?
"Coughing is triggered by very strong stimuli – these can be foreign bodies, but also a temperature fluctuation," explains Bernhard Junge-Hülsing, an ENT specialist in Starnberg.
The body reacts to the intense cold of the ice with a reflex arc transmitted via the swallowing nerves and blood vessels. Specifically, this means: The nerves report a stimulus, and the blood vessels react by constricting.
"And the body reacts," says Bernhard Junge-Hülsing. It reacts with a cough, for example. Or: "What many people are also familiar with is a constriction of blood vessels in the head, which suddenly causes a severe headache." This cold headache is also colloquially called "brain freeze."
If you have to cough while eating ice cream, there's no reason to worry. On the contrary, it's a sign that your nerve supply is good and your reflexes are functioning, according to the ENT specialist. It's simply your body's warning that you're eating too quickly and hectically.
The cough – and also the headache – can be avoided by enjoying your ice cream more slowly. "Eat small pieces or lick the ice cream instead of biting off one large piece," advises Junge-Hülsing. This gives your body time to adjust to the cold.
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