Sore throats can be caused due to a multitude of reasons, a few of which are viruses, bacteria, allergies, and anything that makes your throat excessively dry, such as smoking. A lot of people rely on ice cream to alleviate the frankly, uncomfortable and sickly feeling caused by it. But is ice cream consumption beneficial for sore throats?
While many people find the cold sensation produced by ice cream to be soothing and relaxing, this may be detrimental to your recovery. Research links body temperature with the effectiveness of your immune system. The hotter your body temperature is, the more effective your immune system is. So having your body temperature lowered by ice cream hinders the effectiveness of the immune system.
Furthermore, ice cream causes dryness in the sore throat! I know, quite hard to believe considering ice cream is supposed to be a refreshment for hot days. However, research shows that it makes your liver produce a hormone called FGF.21, which causes thirst. This dryness compiled with an already sore throat can cause regression for whatever healing your immune system would have done.
Another reason ice cream is more harmful than helpful is that a major cause of sore throats is bacterial infections. Sugar is a food source that bacteria thrive off of, so eating ice cream while having a bacterial infection will just make your body's job harder.
In conclusion, we can assert that even though Ice cream may soothe your throat, it's only a temporary fix that does more harm than good in the long run.
