Contrary to popular belief, ice cream and cold water do not make you sick
“Don’t drink cold water while sweating, you will get sick!”, ‘Don’t eat ice cream, you will get sick!’ do not reflect the truth. Ear Nose Throat (ENT) and Hoarseness – Dysphagia Specialist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Necati Enver said, “Contrary to popular belief, drinking cold water and eating ice cream does not make us sick. It does not cause hoarseness. Families do not need to be afraid. Children can eat their ice cream freely.”
Marmara University Faculty of Medicine Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) and Hoarseness-Hardness of Swallowing Specialist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Necati Enver stated that drinking cold water or eating ice cream does not cause disease and said, “Weak immune system, viruses and bacteria make you sick. Ice cream and cold water cause numbness in the throat. This can sometimes cause pain. However, this is temporary.” Assoc. Prof. Necati Enver pointed out that the hot weather affects our lives in many ways and said the following: “Our voice is also among these things. The most important effect on our voice is the decrease in humidity in the air and the dryness of the air. In addition, thirst increases in the body due to the water lost through sweat. This makes our throat drier than it normally is. Especially those living in dry regions experience this risk much more. Also, call center employees, teachers who actively use their voice, etc. are more at risk for hoarseness in such weather.”
COLD WATER DOES NOT TOUCH THE VOCAL CORDS
Stating that the most effective and important way to protect against all these is to drink enough water, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Necati Enver said, “We need to replace the water lost especially with sweat. So we should drink plenty of water,” he said. “In fact, the most common question I am asked is ‘We sweated, it is hot, does eating ice cream and drinking very cold water cause hoarseness? Does it affect our voice? Will it make our child or us sick?” Assoc. Prof. Dr. Necati Enver gives the following answer to this very curious question in the society: “Gerek soğuk su, gerekse dondurma aslında benzer bir etkiye sahip. Bunlar hiçbir şekilde ses tellerimize değmiyor. Yediklerimiz doğrudan boğazımızdan yemek borusundan geçiyor. Hiçbiri ses tellerimize değmediği için ses telinde ne soğuk su ne de dondurma kalıcı bir etki yaratıyor. Tabii ki dondurma, buzlu su gibi soğuk içecekler ve soğuk yiyecekler boğazımızdaki kasları etkiliyor. ”
EVEN VOICE ARTISTS CAN CONSUME COLD WATER
Stating that there may be changes in our voice due to this effect, Assoc. Prof. Necati Enver said: “The feeling in our throat may change. Just as our body contracts when we take a cold shower, some of the muscles in our throat contract reflexively when we eat something cold. There may be voice changes due to this. But we expect these voice changes to go away immediately. So it does not make you sick.” Underlining that these are temporary, Assoc. Prof. Necati Enver said, “They are temporary effects due to the muscles in the throat being affected and the muscles there being slightly numb. Even voice artists can consume cold water. There is no harm in drinking cold water or eating ice cream.”
I FEED MY CHILD ICE CREAM EVERY DAY
“Everyone can safely drink cold water and eat ice cream,” said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Necati Enver, ”The claims that these make you sick are completely false. It is not cold water or cold foods that make us sick, it is the decrease in our immune system due to thirst, heat and the germs, viruses and bacteria around us that make us sick more easily. For example, I feed ice cream to my 13-year-old child every day. My suggestion to parents is to let your children enjoy their ice cream.”
ICE CREAM AFTER TONSILLECTOMY…
Pointing out that patients are advised to eat ice cream or drink cold drinks after some throat operations such as PADEMCIK surgeries, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Necati Enver said, “Cold reduces pain and the risk of infection. It numbs that area. When the muscles encounter cold, the vessels shrink. And blood flow in that area decreases momentarily. Therefore, the pain decreases.”
STRONG IMMUNITY IS IMPORTANT
Stating that they do not make the warning “Do not drink water when you sweat” to anyone, Assoc. Prof. Necati Enver said: “The important thing is to avoid germs, keep our immune system fit, sleep regularly, do sports and drink enough water. We should pay attention to these rules. But if there is a change in the voice for more than a few days, an ENT specialist should be consulted.”
DON’T LET THE CHANGE OF VOICE SCARE YOU
Underlining that mild and short-term changes in the voice should not scare anyone, Assoc. Prof. Necati Enver said, “If such voice changes occur, it is not normally caused by drinking cold water or eating ice cream. Because this type of hoarseness is not likely to cause a permanent problem.”