What Causes the ‘Chill’ When You Drink Something Cold?

When you drink something cold, it feels like your mouth and throat get a chill because of tiny messages that travel from your tongue to your brain.

Imagine your tongue is like a detective who tells the brain what’s happening. When you sip on something icy, like a popsicle or a cold soda, the cold makes the tiny parts of your tongue, called sensors, send a fast message to your brain: “Hey, it’s cold here!”

Your brain gets that message and thinks, “Oh no! Something chilly is happening inside me!” That’s why you feel like you’re getting a chill all over, even if the rest of your body is warm!

Sometimes, when you drink something super cold, it feels like it’s tickling your throat. That's because the cold makes your throat sensors also send messages to the brain.

So now your brain gets two messages: one from your tongue and one from your throat. It says, “Whoa! That’s a chilly surprise!” And suddenly you feel like you’re inside a snow globe, all magical and cool! When you drink something cold, it feels like your mouth and throat get a chill because of tiny messages that travel from your tongue to your brain.

Imagine your tongue is like a detective who tells the brain what’s happening. When you sip on something icy, like a popsicle or a cold soda, the cold makes the tiny parts of your tongue, called sensors, send a fast message to your brain: “Hey, it’s cold here!”

Your brain gets that message and thinks, “Oh no! Something chilly is happening inside me!” That’s why you feel like you’re getting a chill all over, even if the rest of your body is warm!