I myself am an ice-cream addict, but like many addictions there can be painful consequences. Luckily the effects are short term. You may have been in this situation yourself once, casually sitting with friends, sipping on a milkshake topped with vanilla ice-cream then bam! A searing pain shoots through your head, letting out a yelp and pressing at your temple your friends look at you bemused… “brain freeze” you mumble, feeling like a fool for drinking too quickly.

Only three in ten people suffer from the occasional episode of brain freeze, in fact I feel rather special to be in the minority 30%. Apparently there is a simple explanation for the painful incident which involves a region of nerves located in the roof of your mouth which do not take too kindly to the extreme cold temperatures foods such as ice cream can cause. The freezing temperatures cause the nerves to over react and presume the brain must need heating, signals are sent to vessels in the brain making them dilate (expand) causing the pain!

So, how do you stop this happening? Well, the obvious answer is avoid all cold foods and beverages, but as that is impossible for all you fellow milk shake and ice cream lovers there is another simple method which I will explain. As soon as you feel the twinge of brain freeze, press your tongue against the roof of your mouth, the heat from this muscle should counteract the cold, alternatively eat something hot straight away – simple!

The faster you eat your cold food or drink the more likely the onset of brain freeze, so to prevent it occurring at all don’t guzzle your food!