Benefits of hiccups

Hiccups

Hiccup which is also often spelt as hiccough is an involuntary myoclonic jerk or contraction of the diaphragm that can get repeated even several times per minute. According to the medical dictionary hiccups has been illustrated as SDF (Synchronous Diaphragmatic Flutter) or as “singultus’ which is a Latin terminology for the act of catching someone’s breath while sobbing.

Clinically stating hiccup is an involuntary action which involves a reflex arc. That means, once this reflex has got triggered, it causes strong contraction of our diaphragm followed by closure of our vocal cord, which results in the so-called “hic’ sound.

Hiccups can occur individually or can also happen in bouts. It has been observed that among people having hiccoughs that the rhythm of the hiccups or the time span between hiccups, generally tends to remain constant.

Hiccups generally gets resolved by itself without interventions, however there are several home remedies which are used often in an attempt to shorten the duration of this strange discomfiture.

According to an international respiratory research group which composed of members from France, Japan and Canada, it has been proposed that hiccup is an evolutionary remnant of earlier amphibian respiration. It has been observed in this study that amphibians such as tadpoles gulps water and air across their gills through a simple motor reflex mechanism akin to mammalian hiccoughs.

Thus according to this recapitulation theory hiccough is an evolutionary antecedent of modern lung respiration.

In a more recent explanation provided by Daniel Howes in his article “A new explanation for the mysterious reflex’ which got published in 2012, he suggested that hiccoughs may have evolved along with other reflexes that developed in mammals that allows the mammals to coordinate breathing and suckling milk.

Howes suggested that hiccups evolved to allow air trapped in the stomach of suckling infants to escape, which subsequently allows more ingestion of milk.

It has also been further observed that hiccups happens only in mammals and are most common in infants.

In human beings apart from eating too much or drinking beer and soda, there are also other few pretty serious conditions that can cause hiccups. Skull fracture, tuberculosis, epilepsy, myocardial infraction, meningitis, bowel obstruction, diabetes mellitus and ulcerative colitis are some of the other most common reasons for hiccups.

Although apparently hiccups are devoid of bringing any benefits to our body, but nevertheless some of the home remedies for curing hiccups can help our body in an obtrusive way.

Use Hiccup as an excuse for eating peanut butter

It has been observed that eating peanut butter helps in curing hiccups. Hence once you run into a hiccup, you definitely find a way to eat lumps of peanut butter that you may not have got the chance to taste naturally.

Use Hiccup as an excuse for eating brown sugar

According to certain home remedies eating a mouthful of brown sugar often helps in curing hiccups. As brown sugar is also a nutrition that provides energy for our body, having hiccups helps us in replenishing our energy once we eat brown sugar to get rid of this reflex malady.

Use Hiccup as an excuse for deep breathing

If you have forgotten to deep breath for a long time, it’s about time that you must practice a few deep breathing exercises, that can not only get rid of your hiccups but as well as make you feel rejuvenated.

Use Hiccup to stretch your diaphragm

Stretch the diaphragm and holding your breath for a few seconds before exhaling often cures hiccups. Doing this exercise also helps in letting out air from our stomach which result in a better appetite.

Use Hiccup for eating salt

It has been noted that eating salt also helps in reducing hiccups. As salt is one essential nutrient for our body, eating salt during hiccups often helps in replenishing our energy.

Although all these benefits of hiccups are utterly “old wives tales’ but nevertheless they cannot be laid down since all these foods and exercises does not do any harm to our body, but rather helps us in keeping ourselves healthy and strong.

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