Craving cold

When a patient tells me they crave cold drinks, that is my worst nightmare. In fact it is a nightmare altogether to TICM. 

In TICM, water is cold (yin) by nature and the Stomach is considered the ”oven” of our body. Our Stomach is like our fire pit or engine that we throw logs (food) into to keep us going. If this fire is not burning up, our metabolism (inner fire such as energy) will be burning up too. Our food ”logs” will sit in the stomach, not digesting properly what we ingested. The body (stomach) needs then to warm up and transform nutrients so we can absorb them. If we drink too often cold water it will slowly turn off the heat, and this can result in problems with our digestion.

So, why is it that we often times have an unquenchable thirst for cold drinks? You may actually be deficient in manganese. Foods such as walnuts, almonds, pecans, pineapple, blue berries all have high manganese content and can help boost your body’s stores.

And if it's ice you're craving specifically, this is a sign that your body is low in iron and could possibly mean you are anaemic. Try increasing your intake of iron rich foods or cooking with cast iron.