Eating ice is a form of pica-the consumption of non-food items. It does not cause malabsorption of nutrients, but can signal that the body is deficieint in some nutirient, commonly iron. Not always, though. Sometimes people just like to chew ice!

Im only 17 im addicted to eating ice my mum sisster and freinds hate the sound of it i have been doing it for the past year i didnt think that it was anything bad i did know i was overly obsessed with eating it though i never knew others ate it aswell? its good to know im not the only one what is it then why cant i stop? and why when i dont eat it do i feel tired and dehidrated? xx

Eating ice is pica which indicates a deficiancy of something in our bodies. In this case it is iron. Get on a good iron supplement and you should feel better.

I am fourteen years old. and I am addicted to ice eating as well, to the point I'll grab a cup of ice... and just eat eat eat. I sometimes can't even drink ice water, or sodas with ice cause I just eat the ice instead of the drinking the soda. It's beginning to bug my mother, cause I am always crunching my ice.

Could it be anemia? If so, why is it hitting me so young?

I recognize that eating ice can not only affect your health but it messing with your mind too just like an addiction. I was sitting here and wondered if it was me or was I feeling like an addict. I have never been addicted to anything like drugs or alcohol but I've tried them; wondering if there was such a problem really in eating ice and wanting it everytime you went to the store or out and about. Just reading the others, some might not think it serious but if anything have that much control over you that you don't even think about it or not have a mind of the consequences than its a problem. I am a child of God and a servant of Jesus, I need to repent(change)and yes facing it is the best way to deal with it. Let's trust our Creator to heal us.

i love to eat ice, i crave it , i need it , can't stop

so does craving water mean were addicted to water i think not, or salt if all the salt (& all the minerals that is in natural salt) was completely void from our diets we would all probably die.Even Jesus said that salt can be good!water is the essence of life!

Chewing ice can crack / weaken your teeth. I used to love to crunch on ice however after a visit to my dentist...I quit cold-turkey.

It was a habit that I enjoyed...

~Zig

I also have a craving for ice. Last year i was seriously anaemic and stopped eating it. but recently i have atarted eating and it gets worse each day. does it have any effects on your heart or digested system. this is so because after eating an oily food and you eat ice doesnt the oil in the food get stack in your wind pipe

OMG!!! i was recently told i am anemic with a count of 9.1 i m also a BIG ice eater.. i am like the one person said about goin to store and buyin a 42 oz ice only cup. my folks hate it when i sit and chomp as the put it but i crave it. i was also put on a total of 650 mg of iron daily and have to get rechecked in 3 mo. i even had then check the thyroid just in case.. glad to know i am not alone in this

OMG!!!
Eating ice is not the same as Pica. Pica is a disorder of eating non-foods. Ice/water is a food, it nurishes you, you die without it. Pica is the compulsion to eat things like chalk or dirt or uranium. Pica is often associated with iron deficiency, there are however a lot of people who have Pica and don't have low blood-iron levels, look at most toddlers, they'll eat anything that isn't nailed down, -that- is Pica.

People who are iron deficient often eat ice, so do pregnant women, people with Chronic Anxiety issues and people with hypertension. It's also pretty common if you live in the desert. If you're eating enough ice that it troubles you go see a doctor but don't think that the fact that you like the texture of ice crushing in your mouth is a sign of major illness.

If other people don't like the sound of your chewing ice, if you are concerned about the pressure it puts on your teeth or dental work, try getting crushed ice to chew on.

I like everyone on here LOVE ice and chew it constantly Eveyone I know doesnt see me without a cup of ice in hand! lol.... But I had a question has anyone ever had chest pains when they chew alot of ice? I have had these chest pains for the last 6 years about the same amount of time I have been chewing ice and the last few days I have had alot more ice than the week before and noticed the chest pains got worse... so I was wondering if maybe there was something with the ice that would cause that...I have No idea how that would work... Just wondering if anyone else may know what it could be...

Does it feel like muscle spasms or does it feel like someone punched you in the sternum?

When it happens which is at random times no rhyme or reason. I can't take a deep breath in. The deeper the breath the more intense the pain and its a sharp pain,thats usually on the left side. 90% of the time it lasts but a second the other 10% lasts anywhere from 5min to 8hrs..
The Doctors tested me for asthma because of the breathing in but it was negative...

Does it ever happen when you're not eating ice?

Yeah, Well I was eating alot of ice 3days in a row and the third day I got like 4 of these chest pains. So I stopped eating all but 3 or 4 peices a day for 2 days and have only had 1 chest pain. I have only been testing this for the last 6 days so its kinda hard to tell... I probably wont know for sure till I stop eating ice for more like 2 weeks.

Don't wait, go to see a doctor. You can have a chest seizure from dropping your temperature too low. Your diaphragm basically strains itself like brain freeze for the torso. But it's not terribly painful and it would only be during the approximate time that you're eating ice.