Nothing cools you off like a full spoon of ice on a burning summer day.
You can stay cool and hydrate yourself by drinking from the ice cubes at the base of your drink.
Additionally, consuming ice cubes while feeling under the weather can help you get rid of a dry mouth without making you queasy.
How about consuming fresh, hard ice cubes from the fridge, though? Is it bad for your health?
Even though your dog may enjoy having ice cubes, you may not. However, if you do, then it may be a sign that you may be suffering from a medical condition.
The term for the disease known as obsessive ice eating is pagophagia.
Ice cravings could indicate an eating condition or a lack of nutrition. This could lead to severe consequences.
Dental issues like tooth decay and enamel loss can result from chewing ice.
Contents
What causes people to crave ice?
People may yearn for ice for a variety of reasons. They consist of:
Anemia due to iron deficiency
Iron deficiency anemia, an ordinary type of anemia, is frequently linked to compulsive ice eating.
Anemia happens when there aren’t enough healthy red blood cells in your blood. These blood cells are responsible for delivering oxygen to all of the tissues in your body.
You might experience fatigue and shortness of breath without that oxygen.
There is insufficient iron in the blood of those who have iron deficiency anemia. To create healthy red blood cells, iron is necessary.
It is necessary for the red blood cells to transport oxygen as intended.
According to a few renowned researchers, people who have anemia due to iron deficiency may experience an increase in blood flow to the brain when they chew ice.
The brain gets more oxygen when there is more blood flow.
It is accustomed to being oxygen depleted, so this oxygen spike may increase alertness and mental clarity.
A study in which a few participants took a test before and after consuming ice was used by the researchers.
The anemic participants performed noticeably more promising after eating ice. Anemia-free participants weren’t impacted.
Pica
People with pica, an eating disorder, compulsively consume more than one non-food item like clay, paper, ice or dirt.
Pica has a subtype called pagophagia. It concerns the compulsive consumption of ice.
People who have pica are not forced to consume ice due to a physical condition like anemia.
Pica frequently coexists with other psychiatric disorders and intellectual impairments. It may also manifest while a woman is pregnant.
How is the cause of craving for ice diagnosed?
Consult a physician if you have been compelled to eat ice on a regular basis for longer than a month.
Visit your doctor as soon as possible to get blood work done if you are pregnant. Deficiencies in vitamins and minerals can lead to serious issues during pregnancy.
Go to your primary care physician first and describe your symptoms to them. Mention any unusual food cravings you’ve ever had besides ice.
Your blood will likely be tested by your doctor to see if you are iron deficient.
Your doctor might recommend additional tests if the results of your blood point to anemia in order to rule out other possibilities, like outrageous bleeding.
Can craving ice cause other conditions to develop?
If you have intense ice cravings, you might eat a lot more than you intend to. Pagophagic individuals can consume numerous trays or bags of ice each day.
Dental problems
Simply put, eating bags or trays of ice every day will damage your teeth because they are not designed to endure such abuse. Your teeth’s enamel can deteriorate over time.
The hardest part of the teeth is the enamel. Each tooth has an outer layer made of this material that shields the inner layers from decay and damage.
The teeth may become incredibly sensitive to both hot and cold substances as the enamel erodes. The risk of cavities might also arise.
Complications caused by anemia
Anemia caused by a lack of iron can worsen if left untreated. There are numerous health problems it may cause, such as:
- Heart issues, such as heart failure and an enlarged heart
- Issues with pregnancy, such as early delivery and low birth weight
- disorders of physical and mental development in children and infants
Complications caused by pica
The condition known as pica is very dangerous. Many of the complications it can cause are medical emergencies.
Other non-food items, however, can cause internal harm while ice won’t. A person with pagophagia might also feel compelled to consume other foods.
The consequences of pica depend on what you eat.
- bowel problems
- intestinal obstructions
- perforated (torn) intestine
- poisoning
- infections
- choking
Conclusion
Since it takes energy for the body to melt the ice cube, eating ice actually causes calorie burning.
This can be used as a valid weight-loss tool, according to experts. Your body expends energy to melt large amounts of ice that you consume.
According to the logic of the Ice diet, eating ice should also result in some degree of satiety, if only because it physically fills the mouth and stomach.
According to the expert’s calculations, consuming one liter of ice would result in the burning of about 160 calories, or about as much energy as it takes to run one mile.
Consequently, you get to eat and expend energy. That has been the American Dream ever since upward mobility was declared dead.
Furthermore, it is probably secure. A person who is otherwise healthy should not experience any obvious negative effects from consuming this level of ice.
Try not to consume ice when you are superheated, either.
For instance, the act of actively releasing extra heat that accumulates during exercise, such as after a run, requires energy from the body.
If someone were to consume a lot of ice while cooling off after exercise,
According to The Ice Diet, “Some of the heat that had been generated by the exercise would be neutralized by the coolness of the ice, minimizing some of the benefits of the exercise in burning calories.”
It’s really that simple, and you’re all set as long as the artificial flavor you use is completely secure.
You don’t even have to be concerned about this trendy diet going out of style.
You can simply cross your arms and respond, “It’s objectively the coolest diet around in terms of temperature,” while passing the slurry if somebody tells you it’s not cool.
