system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:Why do drinks feel so cold after I eat a mint?
gpt
Your tongue senses cold because it posseses a sensory protein called transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M member 8 (TRPM8). Thats what tells you when something is cold. But it doesn't just react to cold temperatures, it also reacts to menthol, the primary part of mint that gives its mintyness. So when you eat a mint, it not only creates a mild cooling sensation, it makes your tongue much more sensitive to other cold stuff. So a water and other drinks, even at room temperature, will feel much colder, pretty much anything with a lower temperature than your mouth will feel cold because the mint has made you so much more sensitive to it.