# Why do sweet foods make my scalp tingle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 6, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sweet-foods-make-my-scalp-tingle/636908 "2012-10-06T15:38:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sweet-foods-make-my-scalp-tingle/636908/21 "2014-04-06T23:48:10Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Do you also get the anticipatory tongue tingle just before opening a packet of salt and vinegar crisps? That’s a pavlovian response - it happens to me when my wife rings my bell 😉 Occasionally I do get the scalp tingles in response to food - not specifically sweet foods, but intense flavours. I’m with **Tammi Terrell** - it is probably a cross-linked nervous response. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sweet-foods-make-my-scalp-tingle/636908/22 "2014-04-06T23:55:33Z")
The brain uses glucose for fuel almost exclusively. The brain getting hit by a rush of glucose may cause some other reactions. ---
**Author:** ![Sturgeonslaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Sturgeonslaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sturgeonslaw)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sweet-foods-make-my-scalp-tingle/636908/23 "2015-06-06T16:45:44Z")
Whenever I eat something really sweet I get the same thing. My top scalp will tingel. Snickers do it to me every time. But, only with the first or second bite. I don’t get it every time. I just ate a Twix with my daughter and it happened so I did a search on Google and ended up here. Up until last year I thought it was just a sugar rush and everyone got the same thing… my wife let me know it’s not the norm. Oh yeah I also sneeze sometimes too when eating sweets. But, I think that’s from the tingel lol ---
**Author:** ![Graafics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Graafics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graafics)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sweet-foods-make-my-scalp-tingle/636908/24 "2017-11-29T06:01:07Z")
So about 3 years behind on this thread but hey im glad theres others out there. I usually get it when i sweet fruit. Just had it now after some grapes than googled and here i am now. Fruit aren’t the only culprits for me, i get the feeling some times after doing a line of coke. Maybe the tingle comes from intense pleasure. I really enjoy both so maaaybe. > [@Colophon](#): > > I’ve just eaten a couple of triple chocolate cookies. These things are _really_ sweet, and. as often happens when i eat something very sweet, they made my scalp tingle, almost as if my hair was standing up on end. The feeling only lasts for a few seconds as I’m eating. > > Two questions: > > Does this happen to everyone? > > And what causes it? > > Googling didn’t bring up much, other than an [old SDMB thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=304651) in which I mentioned it, so maybe I really am alone… ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sweet-foods-make-my-scalp-tingle/636908/25 "2017-11-29T15:55:57Z")
Bizarre coincidence time. I was just looking at the SDMB (which I don’t do that often these days) and eating some chocolate (which I do more often). Just as I felt that tingle, guess which ancient zombie post I happened to scroll down and see? I still get it - right across the top of the head. ---
**Author:** ![Anglachel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Anglachel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anglachel)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sweet-foods-make-my-scalp-tingle/636908/26 "2017-11-29T16:22:31Z")
I used to have the exact same response from a particular BBQ place. It was their sauce that caused it and no other taste has caused the same reaction. Sadly, they are no longer around. It was a tangy sauce, not particularly sweet. ---
**Author:** ![40below](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/51bf81/32.png) [@40below](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/40below)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sweet-foods-make-my-scalp-tingle/636908/27 "2017-11-29T20:59:13Z")
This is strange because I have this precise reaction every single time I bite into an apple, and have had as far back as I remember. My hair stands up and my forehead and the back of my neck seem to sweat, or at least heat up. No other food does it, and it’s not triggered by apple in any other form, or by any other fresh fruit or other food. I can’t call it unpleasant, but it is pronounced, I can summon up a whiff of it by imagining biting into an apple. Huh. I’ve never mentioned it to anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Lickety\_Split\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/67e7ee/32.png) [@Lickety\_Split\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lickety_Split_1)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sweet-foods-make-my-scalp-tingle/636908/28 "2017-11-29T23:25:13Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I’ve just eaten a couple of triple chocolate cookies. These things are _really_ sweet, and. as often happens when i eat something very sweet, they made my scalp tingle, almost as if my hair was standing up on end. The feeling only lasts for a few seconds as I’m eating. > > Two questions: > > Does this happen to everyone? > > And what causes it? > > Googling didn’t bring up much, other than an [old SDMB thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=304651) in which I mentioned it, so maybe I really am alone… It’s the so called "feel-good neurotransmitters in your brain kicking in from the sugar. Chocolate does this as well with some women. Specifically, it is the release of Endorphin as well as Serotonin. And do you know that many modern anti-depressant medications work the same way? Well, sort of. Those meds are called “SSRI’s” and the first “S” stands for Serotonin. The rest of that acronym basically means, in layman’s terms. that the med allows more if it to stay floating around in your brain. Yeah, psychologists have known for a while now that women’s brains get stimulated by chocolate and some others sweets in a very similar manner, molecularly speaking, as their brain does when they experience feelings of love and passion. And even orgasms. I am betting that your scalp tingles when you experience orgasms, too, right? See? Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions on this topic, or anything nutrition-related. I’t a pretty significant part of what I do as a fitness professional. Thanks! Enjoy those cookies! ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sweet-foods-make-my-scalp-tingle/636908/29 "2017-11-30T18:37:21Z")
> [@Lickety\_Split](#): > > I am betting that your scalp tingles when you experience orgasms, too, right? Nope. Only sweet foods. (I’m male, FWIW.) ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sweet-foods-make-my-scalp-tingle/636908/30 "2017-11-30T19:12:51Z")
Diabeetus? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sweet-foods-make-my-scalp-tingle/636908.md?page=1)