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Q:
What harm does eating ice does to your body?
I eat ice everyday all day.
- Tracy Williams (age 37)
miami, fl
A:
It does take energy to melt ice and then to warm it up to body temperature and you might wonder about your dietary energy balance. Let's do a quick calculation: it takes about 334 kiloJoules to melt a kilogram of ice and then an additional 140 required to warm it up to body temperature for a sum of 474. This is about 112 nutritional Calories. I suspect you don't eat a kilogram (2.2 lbs) of ice per day so the caloric deficit is peanuts compared to the 570 Calories in a 3.5 oz bag of peanuts..
On the other hand, cracking all that ice with your teeth might not be too 'cool'. Ask your dentist.
LeeH
(published on 04/04/2011)
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