In recent years, ice eating has grown in popularity. One of the main reasons why people like ice is because it is soft and chewy.
There are a lot of people talking about ice and weight loss on various social media channels, blogs, and video platforms and there are people who are claiming results as well! Is it, nevertheless, possible that it has anything to do with weight loss?
To get right to the point, eating ice may aid weight loss. Melting ice forces your body to expend energy, thus consuming a lot of ice cubes burns calories. It may give you a sensation of fullness by filling up the space in your stomach, causing you to eat less. As a consequence, eating ice helps you lose weight.
Of course, there can’t be a universal answer to each and everyone out there. Eating ice/ice cubes will affect different people differently. There are going to be some pros and cons of following this diet.
In this post, we are going to talk about that more and will answer major questions related to the ice diet.
Let’s take a deeper look at how ice may aid in weight loss.
What Does The Ice Diet Mean?
The ice diet recommends that individuals consume a lot of ice (at least one liter per day) and eat a balanced diet.
Eating ice may help jump-start your metabolism since melting it takes a lot of energy. It may produce some fullness by filling the stomach’s space, resulting in decreased food intake. Consuming around one liter of ice may burn about 160 calories.
Ideally, you should eat two meals every day, and three if you are physically active. The diet also recommends avoiding snacking in between meals.
Similarly, the ice diet encourages the use of spices and chili in cooking to help increase hunger and the activity of beneficial brown fat in the body, which aids in calorie burning.
The diet urges you to combine an ice diet with nutritious food to keep your body from becoming malnourished.
Does Eating Ice Make You Lose Weight?
The ice diet works on the principle that eating ice cubes may assist improve and accelerate your metabolism since melting ice takes a lot of energy.
That is, by using a significant quantity of energy in the process, your body fat level is lowered.
As a result, eating a big quantity of ice cubes produces fullness, filling up space in your stomach and limiting your food intake.
One liter of ice cubes burns about 160 calories. By boosting your basal metabolic rate, the ice diet aids weight reduction.
When you consume one liter of naturally cold ice cubes, your body will have to expend energy to reheat the ice to the same temperature as your body.
When you eat cold food, your body expends energy to maintain a balance between your body temperature and the temperature of the meal.
Is Eating Ice Good For Weight Loss?
Combining the ice diet with a balanced meal may aid weight loss. When you consume huge volumes of ice, your body must use energy to melt it.
Eating ice would help you burn calories while also delivering some fullness since it takes up space in your stomach and mouth.
However, consuming too many ice cubes may be hazardous to your health, causing tooth decay and a cold or cough.
Can You Eat Ice Every Day To Lose Weight?
If you have a strong need to chew on ice, you may be suffering from pagophagia. A lack of nutrients is often to blame. Chewing on ice regularly is bad for your teeth and might indicate a health problem.
Allowing the ice cubes to melt gently on your tongue may be just as refreshing as chewing on them.
You will not only feel rejuvenated, but the effect will endure much longer. You’ll receive greater value for your money.
If you find it impossible to resist the temptation, avoid putting ice in your beverages completely and instead choose a cooled beverage. When you go out to eat, foregoing the ice may be beneficial to your health.
What Can Be The Side Effects Of Eating Ice?
Apart from the potential weight loss advantage, the ice diet provides no other substantial health benefits to your body. The following are some of the negative consequences of adopting the ice diet:
- Chewing on ice often may hurt your teeth by wearing down or cracking the enamel and dentin, leaving them vulnerable to decay and cavities.
- When you discontinue the ice diet, there’s a risk you’ll gain the weight back.
- Ice cubes should not be consumed in severely cold or excessively hot temperatures.
- Ice may lower your body temperature and interfere with the operation of some organs if consumed in excess.
What Are The Pros Of The Ice Diet?
- Weight Loss – The ice diet involves eating a lot of ice cubes to burn calories since heating ice compels your body to spend energy, which aids weight loss.
- Hydration – Drinking water, such as chewing ice, may assist to avoid dehydration. Human health is negatively impacted by dehydration, which may be deadly.
Even a little dehydration might make you lethargic and deplete your energy.
- Mental Boost – Ice may provide a mental boost to persons who are iron deficient, similar to a strong cup of coffee.
The most frequent symptom of iron deficiency anemia is fatigue, which happens when the body is unable to create enough oxygen-carrying hemoglobin due to a lack of iron.
- Hemoglobin Oxidation – Chewing on ice cubes may cause a rise in oxygenated blood to the brain, giving anemic persons the cognitive boost they need.
Icing also reduces inflammation by constricting blood vessels. This reduces visible weariness, enhances blood flow, and brightens your complexion, giving your skin an immediate shine.
What Are The Cons Of The Ice Diet?
- Dental issues – Your teeth were not designed to withstand the daily wear and tear of chewing bags or trays of ice. You may wear down the enamel on your teeth over time.
- Anemia-related complications – If iron deficiency anemia is not treated, it might develop severely. It may cause a variety of health problems.
- Pica complications – Pica is a life-threatening disorder. It may cause several issues, many of which are medical emergencies.
- Pagophagia – The medical disease known as pagophagia refers to obsessive ice eating. Ice cravings may be an indication of malnutrition or an eating problem. It may even hurt your quality of life.
In Conclusion
Ice cubes, in combination with a healthy diet, may help you lose weight. Ice consumption, on the other hand, should be limited since it may injure your teeth and make you ill with a cold or cough.
Eating a well-balanced diet rich in vegetables, fruits, lean meats, and whole grains is the healthiest choice.
When paired with regular exercise and no hype, this reasonable approach is likely to provide long-term results. If you eat a well-balanced diet, occasional indulgences like eating ice are okay, but they should never be your major source of nourishment.
