MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Does peanut butter cure the hiccups?

Peanut butter in an open jar and peanuts in the skin are scattered on the blue table. Space for text. Closeup.

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Does peanut butter cure the hiccups?

A friend of mine told me he does this to cure the hiccups and it works every time… peanut butter. But is this actually true? And why does it work? I found out for you.

Turns out he’s actually right. Peanut butter is digested very slowly by the body. The slow digestion process actually changes your breathing and swallowing patterns. There is a nerve called the vagus nerve that reacts differently to the peanut butter and adapts to the new breathing patterns. This in turn eliminates the hiccups.

Wow!

My friend was very serious about the fact that it can’t just be a spoonful either. It has to be globs and globs of peanut butter to really do the trick. Just be careful you don’t choke while trying this cure, but now you at least have a new way to do it with an added bonus of eating delicious peanut butter.

 

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