Some of these people took oral iron supplements, which ended up stopping their cravings for ice. Another study suggests that chewing ice may increase alertness in people who have iron deficiency. Chewing ice may also be a sign of an emotional issue.
Some people may have symptoms of pagophagia if they are under a lot of stress. Others may have obsessive-compulsive disorder OCD or another developmental disorder. In these cases, chewing ice may be soothing in some way. Before you head to your appointment, try writing down anything about your cravings and habits you think your doctor may find helpful in diagnosis, such as:.
If your doctor suspects iron deficiency anemia or another deficiency, you may need a blood test or other lab work to confirm. If you have iron deficiency anemia, treating the deficiency may relieve pica symptoms without the need for any other intervention. A buildup of iron may lead to cancer and damage your arteries and heart. Iron supplements can also cause constipation. Cognitive behavioral therapy CBT may help in cases where pagophagia is caused by stress, OCD, or another mental health issue.
The therapy may involve either positive and negative reinforcements or counseling. Eating large quantities of ice may harm your teeth by damaging enamel and cracking or chipping a tooth. When your enamel is damaged, your teeth may become more sensitive or prone to cavities. Older dental work, like fillings, may fall out if you crunch too much ice as well. If your pagophagia is caused by iron deficiency anemia, you may be at risk for several health issues.
Once the iron deficiency is cleared up, the cravings for ice typically go away. For some reason, this iron deficiency causes a person to crave and crunch ice. In addition to the fact that there is no nutritional value whatsoever to ice in the first place, your dentist will most likely kick up a fuss if he or she hears that you have been chomping on ice in any form, crushed or cubed, simply because you have developed a craving for it.
Therefore, it really is best to get to the root of the problem and nip this habit in the bud, so to speak. Iron is a necessary component of blood. It enables our blood to carry oxygen effectively so that our bodies have a sufficient supply to complete their daily bodily functions. In fact, oxygen is necessary for every single cell in our bodies to function in the manner for which they are designed.
In particular, the deficiency in iron can be caused by a number of things. Poor dietary intake can result in the poor absorption of iron. Specifically, a diet that does not contain a healthy balance of nutrients can easily lead to an iron deficiency. A limited access to fresh foods in a variety of types might also lead to a lack of iron intake. Finicky eaters can easily take themselves down the path of poor iron intake.
Moreover, limited budgets and limited resources can impinge upon the types of foods that an individual eats. In fact, both tea and coffee are known to reduce the absorption of iron.
Therefore, if a woman indulges in too many lattes and espressos throughout her day, the result can be iron poor blood. Excessive blood loss can also affect the amount of iron stored in the human body. Did you know that heavy menstrual periods over several months could lead to iron deficiency? Those with this condition experience desires to eat items with no nutritional value, even non-food items.
The type of pica specific to cravings for ice is known as pagophagia, which is frequently a symptom of iron deficiency anemia. This occurs because your body cannot produce sufficient amounts of hemoglobin, a blood protein molecule that carries oxygen from your lungs to tissues in the rest of your body, and carbon dioxide from the tissues back to the lungs.
Studies suggest that chewing ice increases your alertness by causing small changes in your vascular system. People with certain gastrointestinal conditions and diseases, people with diets low in iron, and certain groups of women—especially menstruating and pregnant women —are at the highest risk of developing iron deficiency anemia.
You can read more details about high-risk individuals, as well as about other symptoms of iron deficiency, in this article. The most important thing you can do is to discuss your symptoms with your doctor, who can run tests and prescribe solutions.
The researchers cited a small study in which participants were given a test before and after eating ice. The participants with anemia did significantly better after eating ice. Learn more about iron deficiency anemia. Pica is an eating disorder in which people compulsively eat one or more nonfood items, such as ice, clay, paper, ash, or dirt. Pagophagia is a subtype of pica. It involves compulsively eating ice, snow, or ice water.
Pica often occurs alongside other psychiatric conditions and intellectual disabilities. It can also develop during pregnancy. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies during pregnancy can cause serious problems. Start by going to your family doctor and explaining your symptoms.
Your doctor will likely run tests on your blood to check for an iron deficiency. If your blood work suggests anemia, your doctor may run more tests to look for an underlying cause, such as excessive bleeding.
If you have serious ice cravings, you may end up eating a lot more than you realize. People with pagophagia can eat several trays or bags of ice each day. Your teeth are simply not built for the wear and tear caused by eating bags or trays of ice every day.
Over the course of time, you can destroy the enamel on your teeth. Tooth enamel is the strongest part of the teeth.
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