Ah yes, sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia. I had that last week. It was terrible. You've probably had it too. Because sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia is just brain freeze. And that's what we're talking about today on Hello From the Van. Alright, all right, all right. Okay, first, we need to define what a brain freeze or sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia is and does to your brain. Brain freeze isn't actually your brain freezing, but is instead a type of headache. It's a pain that occurs usually in the front of your head when you eat something cold, like a slushy or ice cream or popsicle or you suck on an ice cube. Unlike other headaches, a brain freeze or cold-induced headache usually resolves within 30 seconds. It does not require any intervention or treatment. But what causes a brain freeze? Not just eating cold things, what is the mechanism causing the pain? I always thought it was just your mouth getting cold and then the blood vessels constricting, and the constriction is what causes the pain. I was wrong. It's not the constriction that causes the pain, and it's not technically the cold. It's the rush of blood to the head to warm up the body and stop the cold that causes the headache. According to the Cleveland Clinic, when your body senses sudden extreme cold in the mouth or in the throat, it tries to react and warm up. Blood vessels throughout the head expand to let extra blood into the area for warmth. That quick change in blood vessel size is what causes the sudden pain. Although brain freeze can happen anytime, even when you're not eating dessert, it is more common during very hot weather or after exercise when a person is already overheated. The larger contrast between body heat and tasty treat temperature makes you more prone to this temporary headache. It's ironic that popsicles and hot weather go together because they naturally cause these ice cream headaches. So if there is no medical intervention, how are you supposed to treat an ice cream headache? According to Harvard Medicine, one of the easiest ways to hasten the relief is to push your tongue up to the top of your mouth and hold it there, toward the middle and back if you can. The heat from your tongue warms up the constricted blood vessels and relieves the pain. You can also sip a cup of room temperature or warm water to help combat the headache. If you would like to prevent sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia, the most common scientific advice is to simply eat your sweet treat slowly. And again, according to Harvard Med, you need not fear because brain freeze may be inconvenient, but it won't hurt you. It is very interesting to me that the suggested treatment for ice cream headache is a glass of warm liquid, as the mixing of warm and cold foods in many cultures around the world is considered taboo. For those of you Americans out there, our obsession, it's truly an obsession at this point, with an icy cold beverage and a hot meal is basically the opposite of what the rest of the world considers culturally acceptable or even healthy. I've traveled a lot around the world, and the temperature of water you receive with your beal at a restaurant is largely dependent on that country's beliefs around temperature, food, and health. For example, in Asia, mixing cold drinks with hot food is a big no-no. In China, the social norm is to drink tea or other warm beverages with your meal to aid digestion. Too much water is believed to dilute the stomach acid and stunt digestion. In addition to that, cold beverages are believed to shock the digestive system. The combination of these two cultural standards means that you are regularly served warm drinks with your meal, no matter how hot or humid it is outside. I also did a study abroad in Europe, and as part of my time there, we regularly had classes with the locals. One day we did a cultural exchange meal. We made food from America and they made food from their country. My cohort and I made hot, fresh from the oven chocolate brownies with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. We were saddened when no one over the age of 18 would eat what we had brought. We asked them why and learned that eating something cold with something hot was considered unhealthy. And all of the older folks in the class truly believed it would make them sick and permanently harm their digestive system. I distinctly remember one older woman who said, I have never in my life eaten something cold with something hot, and I'm not about to start right now. She was in her 70s. Being young, silly Americans, we were unaware of this. We watched, sadly on, as our cultural exchange led to the locals letting their ice cream melt and warm brownies cool to eat what at that point was just sugary soup. It was a hard lesson learned. And on the next food exchange, we brought food that's temperature worked for everyone. We also learned that a room temperature cornbread with room temperature butter was a crowd pleaser. And speaking of crowd pleasers, we need to talk a little bit more about ice cream consumption. You're probably correct in thinking that the United States produces and consumes the most ice cream of any country in the entire world. That is correct. However, part of the reason that we consume the most is because we are a very large country with a very large footprint and population. However, if you adjust for per capita consumption, meaning per person, there is actually a country that outranks the United States in ice cream consumption. In the US, we come in second, consuming 20.8 liters per person annually. Again, there's another country that has outdone us. You want to take a guess at what country that is? That's right, it's the island nation of New Zealand. They consume 28.4 liters per person annually. Considering that there are 52 weeks in a year, that's like having a little over a liter of ice cream every other week. That's a lot of ice cream. And one of the reasons that ice cream is so popular in New Zealand is that they have a very big and booming dairy industry. Short horned dairy cows were introduced into New Zealand in 1814. And since then, dairy has become an agricultural staple for the nation. And given how warm New Zealand is, that's a lot of brain freezing. And with that, I'm Mimi Fotz, and this has been a delicious episode of Hello from the Van.