Weekly First-aid Topic: People that should avoid eating ice cream
From:Beijing Municipal Health Commission
Date:07/10/2020

  Ice cream is a popular snack in hot summer. However, although it is  delicious, eating too much ice cream will hurt our body, causing "ice cream  headache". Some people will have severe headache after eating ice cream.  Sometimes it happens in the temporal, frontal or posterior orbit, manifested as  instant tingling or unbearable pain. "Ice cream headache" is also called cold  stimulation headache. Eating large amounts of cold food quickly will cause huge  stimulation to the oral mucosa, causing vasoconstriction and vasodilatation,  stimulating pain receptors, and then triggering neurological headaches.  Therefore, when eating ice cream, ice watermelon, and drinking ice drinks, it is  suggested to eat slowly. It is best to hold the food in your mouth for a while,  let the mouth adapt to this temperature, and then chew and swallow the food.  Most patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, such as  hypertension, coronary heart disease, and atherosclerosis, have decreased  vascular elasticity to varying degrees. Their ability of blood vessels for  self-regulating is poor. Sudden cold may cause the blood vessels to contract  suddenly, which may induce angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, and cerebral  embolism. The gastrointestinal mucosa of pregnant women is very sensitive to hot  and cold stimuli. Pregnant women eating too much ice cream will reduce their  digestive function. For children, the stimulation of cold can accelerate  intestinal peristalsis and reduce blood flow, causing indigestion. The sugar  content of ice cream is high. Patients with diabetes and obesity eating too much  ice cream can easily lead to fatty liver and other diseases, which may also  aggravate their disease. Therefore, the above people should avoid or eat less  ice cream.