Is Styrofoam Fattening?

    
 If you don't get enough vitamin C, you might catch  a cold. If you don't get enough iron, you might find yourself eating Styrofoam. Iron deficiency has been identified as partially responsible for a bizarre disorder known as pica. The name comes  from the same Latin  root as  a magpie, the name of the bird known for its  indiscriminate appetite. Over the years, doctors have reported cases people with pica eating such as unpalatable items  as dirt, chalk, clay, library paste, laundry starch, paint chips, paper, cardboard.ice chips, and yes Styrofoam.


"Pica is a strange mix of the physical - usually an iron deficiency - influenced by a psychological and even social settings," says Dr. William H. Crosby, a retired hematologist in Joplin, Missouri, who has a long-standing interest in pica. The condition tends to occur in pregnant women, who are often low in iron, and in some babies. The babies affected tend to be "milkaholic," meaning that they drink milk to the exclusion of other foods, thus lowering their intake of iron.


No one knows why iron deficiency would cause such strange behaviour, but often, when the deficiency is corrected with iron supplements, eating habits return to normal, Dr. Crosby says.