Ice Cream and Sinus Infections: The Link to Artificial Flavorings

YES! I DID EAT AN ICECREAM 24 HOURS BEFORE I CONTRACTED THE SINUS INFECTION!!! Wow. That is amazing. I feel terrible. I will try and cure it with the ACV. Thanks.

For the past few years I have noticed I felt really bad after eating Mc Donalds,Wendy's & Dairy Queen ice cream products. The family travels a lot, so during car trips, we stop for a treat of ice cream. After eating the product, I would get a very intense headache, then a crappy feeling with mucus starting in my throat and nose. I knew it was the ice cream because that's all I had eaten. I always travel with garlic and vitamin c , so I would take them and I would feel better by morning.This is sad because as a child (30 yrs ago ) my father would treat the family to a Wendy's Frosty and I never got sick from it. It is scary what companies are doing to our food!!!

Re: Ice Cream and Sinus Infections -- This is TRUE! I've experienced it. Several times. Its so wonderful to eat ice cream but is it WORTH the aftereffect??

Amazing!! I've suffered with sinus infections mostly during the last 5 years, but my issues date back to 1991-92. Guess what? During those two years I lived on Baskin Robins as I was pregnant back to back and couldn't get enough of it. Back then, taking Sudafed helped the problem so it was no biggie.

More recently though, my sinuses are out of control. The right side of my nose and sinuses is completely blocked 90% of the time. I have seen ENT's and Allergists to no avail. I will be seeing my allergist again tomorrow and will make mention of this possible cause.

Even more surprisingly, last week was my daughter's 9th birthday. I bought her a BR ice cream cake. We enjoyed it very much, as we always do. Friday (2 days after eating the BR cake) I developed the worst congestion and allergies I have had in the last month or so. I became sick to my stomach, felt achy as if the flu was coming and spent the afternoon in bed. My head was hurting beyond hurting...800 mg x 2 of ibuprofen did nothing for it. I was nauseous all evening and through Saturday. I was miserable!

In the last year, I've had the most infections/problems with my sinuses. Aside from my job location change, I have definitely kicked up the ice cream/shake habit because of easy access and now I'm wondering if I've been causing my own problems. I will do my best to eliminate them and all dairy completely. I do know that dairy is a cause for me, and I knew for a fact that ice cream always did me in, but I never thought that the flu-like symptoms could be attributed to the same.

Thanks for the info..

After eating ice cream for several days for dessert, my head felt like it would explode with pain. I soaked a cloth with apple cider vinegar & applied it to my forehead & across the bridge of my nose. Also took pain medication. It helped immensely. I also get sinus headaches from most shampoos. Your article helped confirm how valuable vinegar is & that the ice cream thing is not my imagination. Thanks!

Funny as i sit here reading this piece about ice cream and sinus infections, I had soft serve "ice cream" from Sonic 2 days ago and i have been very sick today, way worse than how dairy alone affects me-ever. My lymph-nodes are hugely swollen. No symptoms yesterday. Looking at your list McDonalds, etc. Isn't it true that many of those that serve the soft-serve type of ic actually have little if any dairy in them? Mostly chemicals. So i should know not to eat them (rarely do). Never again after reading this. We (I) have got to get back to whole foods with simpler ingredients, not a list of long chemical names. If you eat at McD ask for the ingredient list and look up their "ice cream"

I came across your site and was totally skeptical, but after reading the info on ice cream, I realized I had eaten ice cream the night before I woke up with a terrible sore throat, congestion, migraine and nausea/vomiting. After reading your article, I just can't convince myself it's a coincidence. I have no idea what brand of ice cream I had, as it was just served as part of a blueberry cobbler dessert, but I'm going to try cutting out all ice cream for a while to see if there's a difference. And as I sit here typing this, I'm drinking a tall hot mug of ACV (1/4 cup) in 8 oz. hot water. We'll see if this does the trick...at any rate, I'm hopeful that it will so I don't have to keep taking OTC meds and/or antibiotics. I suffer from chronic sinusitis, so the potential for something natural like ACV to help me is a serious godsend...thanks!"

Thanks for helping me make the connection! The bad news is that my "sinus infection"/ cold didn't come from ice cream, it came from a Starbucks Green Tea latte made with two big squirts of melon-flavored syrup. You can bet that there was no real melon in that sugary syrup so the offending artificial flavors are now permeating all kinds of food besides ice cream. It made me feel AWFUL and I haven't had a "cold" for years (I also usually abstain from all kinds of refined sugar, etc.). ACV helped get me back on my feet after experiencing 1.5 days of fluey, eye-watering (one side only) sinus pressure with sneezing. And then it was gone. Not a typical cold. Thanks for the heads up. Artificial flavorings are off my list forever!

I've had this horrible sinus infection for weeks now. I have a long history of them but have been able to keep it under control for the past few years... though I still have difficulty with my sinuses, I am generally able to keep them draining enough that an infection doesn't fester. Anyway, for the past month or so, I've felt awful and haven't understood the flare up. So, here I come, looking for some kind of hope and find the info about apple cider vinegar. Now, I know that ACV is great stuff, but hadn't realized that it helped sinuses. So, as soon as I read about it, I went to the kitchen and gulped down 2T of it with 8oz of water. I am sooo pleased to say that my sinuses immediately began to drain - yucky thick mucous down my throat - but, hey, that is a relief with what I've been feeling! The pressure is somewhat relieved already!!! I'm so excited! What's more, I then read on and found the ice cream theory... And, without much surprise, I am sure enough able to link my recent sinus troubles to two rounds of ice cream! I had not eaten ice cream with "flavors" such as these in a long time prior to this, so it really fits for me! My troubles all started with a trip to COLDSTONE Creamery and shortly thereafter worsened upon consumption of some CARVEL brand ice cream cake!!!

so true... i went to baskin robbins on a tues wed & thurs i had a headache that i couldnt get rid of... saturday i had the sinus infection, i will def try the acv and the oil flushing but i hope i feel better im going to disney land this weekend! i didnt even know about the ice cream but i searched the web for a home cure and i found the cause as well..

This past Sat eve the family went to Bruster's Ice Cream and I chowed down a yummy mint chocolate chip scoop. My husband felt ill the rest of the day, but I was fine. Then Sunday morning I awoke feeling the worst sinus pressure in my head ever. My equilibrium was so off I literally weaved to the bathroom like a drunk where I promptly threw up from nausea. It was the worst feeling ever! I went downstairs afterwards and made a tall mug of hot water and added at least 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar to it and spent the next half hour sipping it slowly. It definitely helped but what finally kicked the sinus reaction later in the day was 5 low dosage chewable baby aspirins. Once those got in my system I was fine. My husband did not have a reaction to the ice cream on Sunday, only Saturday.

Thanks for assembling this info -- I am totally intrigued. I have been dreaming of a Good Times Raspberry Torte Spoonbender (it's ice cream) for months and finally on Friday allowed myself to get one. Over the weekend I was annoyed that my Nasonex which I take for hay fever and (which is working great) seemed to stop working and full on sinus issues!!! I have allergies and can get sinus infections 2-3 x a year... I am soo going to elminate these artificially-flavored ice creams (OK, I'll ban all ice creams!) :) I'm also going to try the ACV. Thanks guys.

So glad I found these posts, and to know that I'm not the only one who has "Ice Cream Hangovers." I'll go for months without touching ice cream, then experience temporary insanity. I find that Sonic milkshakes produce the hardest blows to my sinuses. I then think that I've learned my lesson, take a benadryl, and drink lots of water. Normally, if I do that right away, I won't have to go for the antibiotics. I keep saying that I'll break down & get an ice cream maker & make our own ice cream with goat milk. Someday .

I would have never thought Ice Cream could cause a Sinus Infection. Yet, I came down with a nasty Sinus Infection last Monday. I spent all day Saturday at Austin City Limits Music Festival, had sort of exausted myself, and on the way back, we stopped by a local burger joint and ordered ice cream cones, the dairy queen kind, messy, sugary and wonderful. On Sunday I felt exausted, but the day before I had drank beer and danced for hours. Monday morning I overslepts, was late to work and could barely keep my eyes open. By end of the day Monday, I had a full blown Sinus Infection. I should note that its a bad allergy season right now. Yet, I already had my cold of the season, and did get a lot of sleep that weekend, and took vitamins. And, I never usually eat ice cream, even when I do, its normally a fancy pure kind. Now, its been 7 days and I'm finally just starting to breathe out of my nose. YUCK!

I just found this website and read about the ice cream cold...I must say I am wondering if that is why I have this cold, mainly a sore throat and mucas. I ate it and got a cold then I was fine for 4 days and last night I ate it my husband ate it and we both have a sore throat again this morning. Could it be the ice cream??? Seems like.