Chewing Ice May Be Linked to Iron Deficiency
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iStock/Thinkstock(PHILADELPHIA) — Some people suffer a condition called pica, meaning they compulsively chew on substances with no nutritional value such as paper.
One form of this disorder is pagophagia, which involves chewing ice. However, as a new study points out, when people do this, they may actually be treating their iron deficiency anemia.
University of Pennsylvania clinical psychologist Melissa Hunt says that IDA causes fatigue because the body is lacking in oxygen-carrying hemoglobin.
Hunt reports that a friend of hers with pagophagia maintains that ice gives her a lift similar to the jolt people get from caffeinated coffee first thing in the morning.
On the other hand, people who don’t have an iron deficiency won’t benefit from chowing down on ice, Hunt says.
Catherine Broome, a hematologist with the Georgetown University School of Medicine, notes the study is feasible given that the iron-deficient patients she sees also report chewing ice.
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