Cold, crunchy and oh so delicious!!

January 30, 2008 7:44 PM

So, do you do it? Is your significant other "one of them"? Is it catching?

Ice chewing is not just a annoying habit anymore. It is becoming a "cool" new trend and has quite a large following! Some think that the "perfect ice" is a marketable idea. Others think it might indicate a health probem. What do you think? Do you do it? Does it bother you? What would you do for that "perfect chew"?

posted by pearlybob (61 comments total)

Just for the record, I go through at least one 20 pound bag a week. Sometimes one and a half. Can't. Get. Enough! And yes, I am anemic. And cold!
posted by pearlybob at 7:48 PM on January 30, 2008

I had a girlfriend once who used to get horny when she munched on ice. I have no idea why, but there you go.
posted by bondcliff at 7:54 PM on January 30, 2008 [1 favorite]

I think this qualifies as the weirdest thing I have read on the 'filter today. Possibly all week.
posted by rtha at 7:55 PM on January 30, 2008

The heavy crunching must release endorphins or something that makes it mildly addictive, like tanning salon addicts.
posted by stbalbach at 7:55 PM on January 30, 2008

My sister has platelet aggregation disorder, which makes her very anemic.

Before we knew what was going on when she was a teenager, she would come in after school, fill a gallon pitcher with ice, run some water over it until it cracked, and then started biting, chomping, chewing the ice til it was gone.

Since she's been diagnosed and takes iron supplements, she doesn't have the cravings anymore.

Except when she doesn't take her iron. As soon as I see her go for the freezer, I know exactly what is up. This trend may be more indicative of nationwide malnutrition or health problems rather than a tasty culinary bandwagon.
posted by whimsicalnymph at 7:56 PM on January 30, 2008 [1 favorite]

I was telling one of the other nurses at work how much I loved hospital ice. She said it's just like Sonic ice which you can buy by the bag full if you ask. I never knew that.
posted by dog food sugar at 7:58 PM on January 30, 2008 [1 favorite]

Wow, people buying specially marketable chewable ice? That's the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard. Capitalism has officially won over the human spirit.
posted by papakwanz at 8:03 PM on January 30, 2008 [4 favorites]

Bad for the teeth, but at least they're hydrating.

Is there a Sonic anywhere in the NYC area?
posted by Jay Reimenschneider at 8:06 PM on January 30, 2008

The first link mentioned an ice-shaving machine in Wyoming. If shave ice counts as ice, then I'm cool too!
posted by billtron at 8:07 PM on January 30, 2008

I find this post to be a bit odd... ?? A quick google shows that ice chewing might be related to some health problems.... what do we hope to accomplish with this discussion? Are we taking a survey?
posted by HuronBob at 8:08 PM on January 30, 2008

My dog is flippin' nuts for ice. I use it as a training treat. He comes a-runnin' when he hears that srik-skrak of the icetray flexing!
posted by mwhybark at 8:09 PM on January 30, 2008

No survey. Just thought the WSJ article was interesting. I identify with the guy who is mentioned. I chew ice all day. Thought it would make a good post. My first.
posted by pearlybob at 8:10 PM on January 30, 2008

The icechewing.com link is a double.
posted by ND¢ at 8:17 PM on January 30, 2008

One of my pugs loves to crunch ice.
posted by jayder at 8:18 PM on January 30, 2008

While I do enjoye chewing ice sometimes, I would never say I do it compulsively. Sonic ice is the best tho. Everybody else has cubes which can be too big and sharp to boot.

Tell you one thing; chewing ice after a meal is a good way to get food out of the crevices.
posted by Parannoyed at 8:18 PM on January 30, 2008

Some choice threads from icechewing.com:

* * *
TOPIC: If I could be a superhero

Flashy McFlash: I think I'd be Iceman, with the ability to manifest ice from nothing. I would just turn myself into ice and chew on my fingers all day and all night.

In a related question, do you think that chewing ice is a form or function of OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder)?
_________________
"Chewin' ice and takin' names"


specialkdawgg: So if you were a super hero that turned into ice and ate your fingers, does that make you a cannibal?

* * *

TOPIC: 8 pounds plus a day!

malane06: Ok I am up to about 8 pounds of ice a day. 1 bag and a half of penguin ice. I fell really puffy and dont know what is going on with me.

* * *

TOPIC: ice chewing testimonial

icecruncher1: wow! a website dedicated this compulsive behavior that seems so strange in the context of things to become addicted too. Well it's true. I am addicted to the stuff. I have been chewing ice for over 15 years and i don't know why. crushed, cubed, bagged, shaved, dispensed from a machine, falling straight from the sky, I LOVE IT ALL!!! Guilty as charged i'm obsessed with ice.

my favorite thing in the world to do is eat a tray or 2 of ice in bed while i read a good book then turn the blow dryer on myself while the cold sets in. That 2 me is what heaven on earth is all about!!!!!!

anyone out there got a similar wacky ice / blowdryer thing out there. or am i the only one who has discovered this crazy ice warm down thing???
posted by Rhaomi at 8:21 PM on January 30, 2008 [1 favorite]

Chewing ice @ Urban Dictionary
posted by Robert Angelo at 8:24 PM on January 30, 2008

Eek, my dad does this, and I find it really annoying. Although the knuckle-popping is totally worse.

Slight tangent, but the end of the first link reminded me: seriously, what is up with non-US countries' complete lack of restaurant ice? It's almost as awful as your lack of free soda refills.
posted by naoko at 8:24 PM on January 30, 2008

Slight tangent, but the end of the first link reminded me: seriously, what is up with non-US countries' complete lack of restaurant ice? It's almost as awful as your lack of free soda refills.

Sarcasm right?

/makers mark filter fully on!
posted by Mr_Zero at 8:40 PM on January 30, 2008

dog food sugar, you just MADE MY DAY. I love Sonic's ice. On a serious note, I had no idea my ice chewing might be a health problem. Thanks for the post, pearlybob.
posted by shoepal at 8:47 PM on January 30, 2008

Yeah. You're gonna wanna strongly reconsider chomping on ice from a restaurant.
posted by Kibbutz at 8:53 PM on January 30, 2008

Good God. I'm the polar opposite of all you ice crunchers. Just the thought of having ice touch my teeth is enough to send a shiver down my spine. I break out in goosebumps when I catch someone biting into a popsicle. GAH.
posted by quite unimportant at 9:02 PM on January 30, 2008 [2 favorites]

So . . . much . . . stupidity. . . . Brain . . . cells . . . dying. . . . Must . . . close . . . browser . . . window. . . . Ah, there. Wow.
posted by obvious at 9:03 PM on January 30, 2008 [2 favorites]

But what if there's SLIME in the ICE MACHINE!

Ohhhh yeah, dog food sugar, you know what I'm talkin' 'bout.
posted by Brittanie at 9:07 PM on January 30, 2008 [2 favorites]

OMG noteworthy quote from obvious' link:

"I chew ice while performing cunnilingus on my wife."
posted by Brittanie at 9:08 PM on January 30, 2008

My mom is an ice-crunching lunatic... it drives my sister and I crazy when she talks on the phone to us while constantly chomping.
Her dentist has tried to get her to quit - he blames the ice for the cracks in her teeth and her crowns falling out.
Recently she was diagnosed with Celiac disease. Her doctor said the ice-chewing is a reaction to malnourishment caused by the disease.

BTW Sonic's ice is amazing - would make an ice-addict outta anybody.
posted by ameca at 9:22 PM on January 30, 2008

My officemate chews ice, though I don't think it's a compulsion.

I AM FUCKING GOING TO KILL HIM IF THE INCESSANT CRUNCHING DOES NOT STOP.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 9:23 PM on January 30, 2008 [2 favorites]

A few years ago, I read about pica, pagophagia, and anemia on the The Straight Dope. I told my father, a practicing pagophagic, that it could be a sign of iron deficiency. He didn't seem to care. A year later, he was severely ill for about a week before he went to the doctor and they pronounced him anemic. I'm just like House...
posted by christonabike at 9:26 PM on January 30, 2008 [1 favorite]

When I was in college, there was a Coke vending machine that dispensed a cup, then the ice, then the fountain soda. A friend at the time loved the ice and called it "soft crunchy ice!!!" with a gleeful shout.

But this was in Milwaukee, and 1993 happened, with the cryptosporidium in the water. The bubblers (err, drinking fountains) on campus were all shut off and the Coke machine was disconnected and wheeled away, never to be seen again.

So that style of ice always makes me think of crypto...
posted by limeswirltart at 9:29 PM on January 30, 2008

"My sody is too cold. My teef hurt."
posted by infinitywaltz at 9:31 PM on January 30, 2008

Also, Brittanie, that was awesome. I'd never heard of that guy before. He's great!
posted by infinitywaltz at 9:32 PM on January 30, 2008

I had a teacher in high school that told me chewing ice was a sign of sexual frustration. Hmm.
posted by dismas at 9:33 PM on January 30, 2008

I'll stick to my trichotillomania, and stay warm. God, just the IDEA of chewing ice makes me wanna pull my hair out. Isn't winter bad enough already?
posted by gorgor_balabala at 9:36 PM on January 30, 2008

My four year old daughter loves to chew ice. Consenus here seems to be that beating her for it seems to be OK.

I'll open a thread on ask
posted by mattoxic at 9:43 PM on January 30, 2008

If you want to account for the iron deficiency making people want to crunch ice, you might proceed by trying to find something crunchy in a state of nature (pre-cooking) that would be a source of iron. What, dried blood? insects? shellfish?
posted by jamjam at 9:53 PM on January 30, 2008

I still prefer my fingernails.
posted by The Gooch at 10:01 PM on January 30, 2008

I was told chewing ice was a sign of sexual inhibition. So, stopped.
posted by parmanparman at 10:09 PM on January 30, 2008

I used to do this. Then one day I saw the inside of a restaurant ice machine. Now I dont drink the coke if I feel that the ice has melted too much. Ice munchers should probably read "Fast food ice dirtier than toilet water." Yum, e.coli!
posted by damn dirty ape at 10:13 PM on January 30, 2008

For all of you who are praising Sonic's ice: Just make sure you're there on a busy day and you're getting the ice fresh off the top of the pile in the ice-maker. My daughter worked a summer at our local Sonic, and whenever they cleaned out the ice-maker (which doesn't happen very often) they found disgusting detritus like dead insects, mold, etc. Once they even found a dead bird. But I suppose that's par for the course at most fast-food establishments.
posted by amyms at 10:32 PM on January 30, 2008

My two-point-five year old boy loves crunching the ice. We barely let him do it. I'll bring up the potential iron deficiency thing to our pediatrician at the next visit. Thanks for the post.
posted by davejay at 10:37 PM on January 30, 2008

Is this something I'd need to live in a country which sees sunshine occasionally to understand?
posted by MrMustard at 11:04 PM on January 30, 2008

You need your free soda refills because all ice in the cup is cheating you of the volume of soda it displaces. You're paying for water.

Also, it isn't so damned hot where I live that the ice melts fast.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:09 PM on January 30, 2008

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."

I can practically hear Dr. Messina rubbing his hands together evilly at the thought of all those crowns he's going to have to put in after an article on ice-chewing runs. I quit years ago after my dentist told me to stop, but reading that story made me feel like a dry drunk watching a beer commercial. (Taco Time ice, my drug of choice, even got a particular shout-out.)
posted by cirocco at 11:16 PM on January 30, 2008

You need your free soda refills because all ice in the cup is cheating you of the volume of soda it displaces.

Also: most of us here drink it by the single glass, not by the multiple bucketload. Mostly in an attempt to avoid the condition known as American's Arse.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:49 PM on January 30, 2008

Real mean eat dirt.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 11:51 PM on January 30, 2008

Good grief. You know what I mean.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 11:52 PM on January 30, 2008

Eating dirt would make anyone mean, UH.
posted by Jilder at 12:15 AM on January 31, 2008

Mmmm.... ice. I'm pretty sure it's not a result of any nutritional issue for me, based on all the tests i've had for other reasons. However, I am a pretty obsessive/addictive person, so I'm sure it's related to that somehow. Not likely to quit this, since it's pretty far down my list of habits I need to kick (the cigarettes had to go first!). When you are used to having a lot of crutches (cigarettes, coffee, etc), a relatively benign one like this doesn't seem so bad.
posted by wildcrdj at 12:17 AM on January 31, 2008

My silver fillings hurt just reading this thread. Chewing ice? Ouch, ouch, ouch.
posted by octothorpe at 4:09 AM on January 31, 2008

When I was growing up, we had one of those refrigerators with the ice dispensers on the door, the ones that make the ice cubes that look like peach slices. Once when I was a bored adolescent, I swallowed one. Having little better to do, I decided to see just how many I could swallow. I made it through a whole bowlful. Shortly after that I was doubled over in pain for a good 10 minutes.

I don't think ice chewing is a good idea.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 5:02 AM on January 31, 2008 [2 favorites]

Two of my dogs love me the most when I knock icicles off the eaves. It provides them with delectable outdoor treats for days afterward. They like an icecube OK now and then in the summertime, but icicles or crunchy snow? Food of the gods.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:20 AM on January 31, 2008

When it's hot out I often crunch up the ice cubes left in my drink when the liquid is gone, but going to a fast food place or to the freezer just to get a cup of ice? Year-round? Craziness. I guess Rule 38 of the internet is that if something exists, there's a forum where people discuss their unhealthy obsession with it.
posted by caution live frogs at 5:35 AM on January 31, 2008

I had a teacher in high school that told me chewing ice was a sign of sexual frustration. Hmm.
posted by dismas at 9:33 PM on January 30 [+] [!]

I was told chewing ice was a sign of sexual inhibition. So, stopped.
posted by parmanparman at 10:09 PM on January 30 [+] [!]

Does anyone ever know where these little 'factoid' things come from? I mean, really. I'm a bottle-label-peeler, which is apparently another dire sign of sexual frustration. I fidget, too. That must somehow mean I really need a good boning. Thanks, psychology.
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 6:02 AM on January 31, 2008

Sarcasm right?

Eh, mostly. I'm sure I just like ice because I'm used to it, and if I had grown up with soda without ice that would seem totally normal. I am a total Diet Coke fiend though, and those tiny European servings of soda make me sad - it's the one thing that really makes me feel like a Stupid Tacky American when I'm traveling.

I legitimately am curious about why ice is largely exclusive to American restaurants, though, if anyone has answers other than "you are dumb and a fat-ass" (I know y'all are joking - or at least I'm pretty sure you are. I am mostly joking in insulting your ice shortage).
posted by naoko at 6:46 AM on January 31, 2008

One of my aunts used to have a Mega Slurpee cup of ice in one hand and a lit menthol cigarette in the other. Pica!
posted by doctorschlock at 7:39 AM on January 31, 2008

I used to do this at night. It drove my wife crazy, so I stopped.

Also, there is nothing so inconsequential that there is not a message board dedicated to it somewhere.
posted by rusty at 12:01 PM on January 31, 2008

I legitimately am curious about why ice is largely exclusive to American restaurants, though, ...

Me too! I didn't grow up in this country, and I find the ice culture baffling. I regard it as a nuisance and only good externally, e.g. on hills (for skiing). It just takes up room in the cup and hurts the teeth. My partner (native Californian) is the opposite: she can't stand winter or snow, but would munch on ice all day.
posted by phliar at 1:22 PM on January 31, 2008

My mother does this.

So does Larry Flynt.

I hope to God that's all they have in common.
posted by klangklangston at 1:23 PM on January 31, 2008

i_am_joe's_spleen writes "You need your free soda refills because all ice in the cup is cheating you of the volume of soda it displaces. You're paying for water."

Really?
posted by krinklyfig at 5:32 PM on January 31, 2008

I used to love to chew ice.

I really watch it now, because my spouse, who is Mr. Follows All the Proper Dental Care Rules Person, recently had several teeth crack, despite proper brushing and flossing and never a cavity when he was younger, because the ice is so hard that it causes fissures which over time make your teeth crack (according to the dentist).

But I still miss chewing ice.
posted by misha at 5:40 PM on January 31, 2008

A friend got me hooked on ice. I thought we were the only ones!
posted by IndigoRain at 12:27 AM on February 1, 2008