Chewing ice cubes can reveal a lot about you

SHOPPING these days has become quite a chore, and right now I am not even speaking about the long queues that the festive shoppers are causing. I can speak about endless queues and bustling stores at another time – closer to December 25th.

No, what I am concerned about is the quality of produce available to the consumer. Don’t get me wrong; a number of stores in Kimberley have upped their game and the fresh produce and other merchandise looks fresh, plump and tempting.

The obvious flashing red light here is the expired, sub-standard and downright dangerous consumables that have been flying off the shelves at certain tuck shops run by unscrupulous vendors.

And sadly, even in the upmarket stores in our pristine air-conditioned malls, there are sometimes concerns over freshness.

Wait, don’t boycott the malls just yet. What I am referring to here is when certain unprincipled people decide to leave cold or frozen items at random locations in the store – often at the tills – because they have, on the spur of the moment, changed their minds. The food – be it chicken, meat or frozen items then lie there until the clean-up is done later in the day.

And if you think it doesn’t happen, speak to my own father who will not hesitate to tell you how – having just recovered from a head cold – he was having difficulty with his sense of smell. Recently, with his olfactory impediment, he purchased a tray of chicken pieces.

But fortunately, the cashier warned him, “No ntate … don’t buy this. This chicken has gone off.”

My dad of course told the kind cashier that he had no idea the chicken was loaded … like a loaded gun … that can go off … get it?

Don’t worry, the cashier didn’t get his wisecrack either.

But besides the obviously dangerous foods, I sometimes wonder about the nutritional content of unappetising, flavourless fruit. I always wonder, if there’s no flavour, can there be any vitamins?

I always have in the back of my mind the imaginary scenario of someone getting their five fruits a day, and still struggling with deficiencies, simply because the fruits were not packed with nutrients.

Remember – this is an imaginary scenario!

But think about it, a variety of factors may cause brittle hair and nails and one of those factors is a lack of biotin. Good sources of biotin are spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, yeast, whole grains, and bananas.

But if your bananas taste like flour, can it even have enough biotin for a pinky nail?

Then, sometimes an overzealous tooth brushing technique can result in bleeding gums, but a vitamin C deficiency can also be a contributing factor. The possible remedy? Consume at least 1½-2 cups of fruit and 2–3 cups of vegetables each day. And pray that your fruit and veggies have the vitamins.

Here’s an interesting one: Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is a nerve condition that causes unpleasant or uncomfortable sensations in the legs, along with an irresistible urge to kick or twitch.

Now while the exact causes of this condition are not fully understood, there appears to be a link between symptoms of RLS and a person’s blood iron levels. But this still needs to be verified.

However, speaking of iron deficiencies, I read somewhere recently that craving and chewing ice, a condition known as ‘pagophagia’, is often associated with iron deficiency.

But an ‘informal counsellor’ friend of mine – another name for ‘informal counsellor’ is ‘barman’ – says that’s rubbish, telling me that the only deficiency that someone has who habitually chews ice is a deficiency of “brandewyn en Coke”.

But seriously, if you do suspect that you could have a vitamin or mineral deficiency, speak to a medical professional, and see if they can advise you on the best route to take.

Until then … enjoy the ice cubes.