I had no idea that “chewable ice” is such a big business. I always just thought chewing ice was an annoying habit that I had … though I also had no idea of how, um, controversial it is.
Compulsive ice eating was observed at least as far back as the 1600s, according to “Pagophagia, or Compulsive Ice Consumption: a Historical Perspective,” an academic article published in the journal Psychological Medicine in 1992. Lazarus Riverius, a French royal physician, described young women afflicted with an “evil” diet ingesting great quantities of snow and ice, among other things, according to the journal article.
The American Dental Association says that ice-chewing can damage teeth. “People have the right to do things that may hurt them,” says Matt Messina, a dentist in Cleveland and spokesman for the association. “If something breaks, we’ll fix it.”
Today, obsessive ice chewing has been linked to iron deficiency, which afflicts about 2% of U.S. adult males and as many as 16% of young females between the ages of 16 and 19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Treating the deficiency — whose link to ice eating is unclear — tends to end the compulsive chewing for such people.
But many ice chewers say they just do it because they like to.
Crunch!
I am a 52 yr old female and overweight. I have been chewing ice for atleast a year. I did not know why I had this obsession or care.
I just enjoy the crunching and the cold sensation in my mouth and
stomach. Low and behold in my recent doctor visits, they found that I was very anemic and am now on iron pills. Will I quit chewing ice?
I do not think so. Did I loose weight? NO, but I did quit drinking
soda. My one treat a day was a COKE on the rocks.I would fill a glass with ice, get busy doing something, start eating the ice and when the ice was gone, the thought of drinking the coke alone was not a TREAT anymore. So I put the coke away and and realized all I wanted was the ice.
As far as I know I don’t have an iron deficiency. Actually, I consider the irrigation from chewing ice after a soda as a great dental care feature …
Compulsive anemic ice chewer here. I’m just curious if any one else cares what kind of ice they chew. I go through my phases but almost always go back to this wonderful in between state of ice where its like crunchy on the outside but slushy on the inside. It’s hard to time it just right, but when you get it right it’s awesome!!