Water or ice?

[Beekel]

This may sound like a silly question but bare with me.

I chew ice like a mad man (or woman) and I am wondering if the ice consumption counts as water intake or does your body process ice different than water.

Thanks.

[Asclepius]

Re: Water or ice?

Well elementally it's all H20. However, aside from the damage you may be causing your fangs (I'm a reformed hard core ice cruncher) I have a hard time imagining anyone eating that much ice. The molecular weight of water is 18.05g which is equal to 0.636695 ounces. Assuming you are drinking 64oz of water per day that is a hair over 4 POUNDS of ice!!! That's not even taking into account that water actually expands as it freezes meaning you would have to eat closer to 4.5lbs of ice to meet the MINIMUM daily requirement. How's that for a noodle twister??

[MsManners]

Re: Water or ice?

Hi Beekel,
For years I froze everything that I drank to the point of it being really slushy. My doc said that it was a sign of severe iron deficiency. It also causes problems with your teeth. It was a hard habit to break, but I would recommend talking to your doctor about it ASAP and switching from ice to cold water. If you are iron deficent, that can stall your weight loss and even lead to a very sluggish thyroid.
Alex

[cheertiff710]

Re: Water or ice?

I used to chew ice like crazy too. I was told i had anemia (iron deficiency) i started eating lots of green veggies and it slowly subsided. I can definitely tell that i have worn down some of the enamel on my teeth though. It was a hard habit to get out of.

[Beekel]

Re: Water or ice?

Wow - Thanks for all the info. I do know that I have low iron levels (anemia) and you have peaked my intrest saying that I could stall because of it. Sadly I can get pretty close to 4.5 pounds of ice a day. I will get on top of my iron suppliments and work on cutting back the ice for water. It is just amazing to me the amount of knowledge this board has.
Thanks again.

[TyCowboy]

Re: Water or ice?

Just a dumb thought on my part, but water expands as it becomes ice. (it's one of a very few substances that actually expand instead of contracting as it freezes). So in theory you could be having to consume larger amounts of volume to get the same number of ounces.

On the other hand, and yes we're not counting calories, but, (and I don't know if I'm right on this...since it's from a magazine), but there was a note in Men's Health magazine some time *years* ago, which suggested that drinking only extremely cold beverages (water on the verge of icing, for example) made the body work harder to keep its temperature regulated, which led to increase in caloric requirement. That said, I could also see how cold would slow down metabolism so there is a tradeoff.

Just thinking with my fingers.

Ty