Craving seaweed and chewing ice

[Rawadventures]

What a combination, eh!!!!

Seriously though... On a whim, I tried Alissa's cucumber wakame salad and it was sooooooooooooooooooo good. The next recipe was for a curried cabbage and arame salad. I tried that. OOOOOOOHHHH sooo yummy and both just so totally hit the spot for me. I can't seem to get enough of the curried cabbage and arame salad!! I even spiced it up with a hefty dose of cayenne!! I got up and ate some at almost 1AM this morning!!! I am wondering if for some reason my body is craving the natural iodine in the sea vegetation!!!

Okay, my wierd thing.. I have been having this unstoppable craving lately - CHEWING ICE. Let me tell you, if someone does this around me it drives me batty....the constant chomp, crunch, chop, crunch. Well, yesterday, for example, I filled up my 52oz water mug THREE times with ice and water and ate EVERY bit of ice out of it each time. I chew it when its kinda soft and breaks apart easily. I think I read somewhere that this is a sign of a deficiency. Has anyone else heard this? Would love to get some input!

You all really need to try those salads in Alissa's book.... YUM... having it for lunch again today! ;)

[RowanC]

Chewing Ice and a craving for seaweeds. First thing I'd suspect is an iron deficiency!

Eat more foods with iron and see what happens. Go ahead and feed those seaweed cravings!

Please post back. I'm curious.

[RowanC]

I forgot to ask. Are you menstruating? :confused:

[Rawadventures]

You asked if I was menstruating. Well..... I have NEVER had a normal cycle in my whole life! I started when I was 13, but would go months and months with no cycle. Of course, the doctors had a fun day with this and put me on every kind of hormone you could imagine. MOOD SWINGS, WEIGHT GAIN... those were my two greatest outcomes of hormone therapy.

Anyway... the better I eat (RAW) the more likely I am to have a cycle, but about 3 weeks ago I had the freakiest, wierdest cycle ever and it was BAD. Not bad cramping, but the flow......you DON'T want to know the details, but I lost a TON of blood. Anyway... I have had constant spotting of SOME sort ever since (and before). My homeopathic doctor has ordered hormone saliva testing on me, but I have not done it yet due to the fact that I have to be able to send $109 in with it and I don't have it yet. She did say that my cervix and uterus looked/felt fine. THAT was a big relief!

I am sure I could be a bit anemic after my last bout with menstruating.

Sheesh... guess you did not expect such a graphic answer, eh! :)

I will definetely keep you posted... I am battling some sinus issues right now too, but don't think that would have anything to do with needing iron or iodine! :)

[eatyourbroccoli]

i agree with rowan...increase your intake of iron a bit :)

when i was on adderall last year ( :rolleyes: big mistake) it somehow prevented my body from absorbing all the nutrients it needed, and i become VERY anemic. i would have intense cravings for ice cubes. i was put on this horse pill-ish iron supplements bc of it. which made me constipated. so then they tried to put me on MORE medication....

::sigh:: sorry. i lost myself haha. i was just so uninformed back then. i attribute about 60% of everything i've thus far learned to get my health back in line from everyone on this board though!

good luck to you :D

[margi]

Craving ice is called popophagia. Cherie Calbom's "Juice Lady's Guide to Juicing for Life" has some juicing recipes to help get rid of ice cravings. She says a craving for ice can be a sign of anemia which is the result of low b12, iron and folic acid.

Best plant sources of iron in order of effectiveness: parsley, dandelion greens, broccoli, cauliflower, strawberries, asparagus, chard, blackberries, cabbage, beets with greens, carrots and pineapple. (Note that parsley juice can be toxic in doses higher than 1/2 to 1 cup per day.)

Best sources of folic acid: asparagus, spinach, kale, broccoli, cabbage and blackberries.

[DrPr]

My girlfriend has always been an ice eater and says she was told it was a symptom of lupus. I'm not so sure about that myself. I know that she has been anemic before, and since having gastric bypass surgery in 2005 she hasn't been taking the b12 recommended to her.

[love_to_eat_raw]

I crave ice with every pregnancy. It is a habit for me now and I am not anemic. Could you be using it as a stress outlet?

Pamela S