We all get the hiccups from time to time, but do you ever wonder why?
Sometimes it’s easy to figure out, especially if you just ate or drank something too quickly. It’s possible you could get the hiccups after eating spicy food or after a large meal of something like bread or pasta. It’s also possible to get the hiccups from drinking something carbonated, like soda. Some experts say it happens because the food or drink you’ve just consumed has triggered your diaphragm.
Usually, your diaphragm helps your lungs breathe in and out.
When your diaphragm spasms or twitches, it makes you hiccup. That’s because the spasm has sent a message on to your brain, which then ends up sending a message on to your throat. The message is for your body to close its vocal cords, which are, of course, responsible for speech. When the vocal cords close, we start making the hiccup sound. Usually, the hiccups tend to go away once your diaphragm stops responding to what you last drank or ate, which again, could include spicy food.
The good news is hiccups aren’t usually long-lasting, and they only usually happen every so often.
If it’s making you too uncomfortable, you can always try fighting back against the hiccups with one of those old home remedies, like swallowing a spoonful of sugar, breathing into a paper bag, or even having someone surprise you enough to “scare” the hiccups away. There’s no reason to give up the food you enjoy the most. Again, hiccups aren’t usually a daily occurrence, so don’t worry about giving up all the flavors you love. After all, when it comes to spicy foods, there’s an entire heat scale to explore, from mild peppers to some that are so hot they make you break out in a sweat.
