Molasses may offer sweet relief to ice addict
Q: I drive my family and co-workers crazy with my ice addiction. I’m 47 and have craved chewing ice since I was a teenager.
I’ve always had heavy periods and low energy. A Red Cross nurse told me I was too anemic to give blood, but I never made the connection between iron deficiency and craving ice.
Recently, I started consuming molasses (as a home remedy for a different ailment), and almost overnight I no longer had the ice cravings. It was a pleasant side benefit. I put molasses in my almond milk — very tasty, and a good source of iron.
A: Craving nonfood items such as cornstarch, baking soda, clay or ice is called pica. This can be a signal of iron or zinc insufficiency. Correcting the deficiency may calm the craving.
Blackstrap molasses is rich in iron, with 3.5 mg per tablespoon. It also is a good source of zinc. Keep in mind, however, that molasses also is high in sugar.
Other foods that are good sources of iron include liver, clams, oysters, mussels and other shellfish. If such foods don’t appeal, you may want to consider a multivitamin and mineral supplement.
Q: My thyroid was removed 38 years ago. I did very well on Armour Thyroid replacement all of those years. Recently, my endocrinologist insisted that I take Synthroid instead. It made me feel awful.
Finally, he put me back on Armour, but kept reducing the dosage. He insisted that the bloodwork showed that I was getting too much.
I reached a point where I was so fatigued that I could do nothing. When I saw another specialist, she said that my thyroid dosage was too low. In three weeks on the higher dose she prescribed, I have begun to feel better. Quality of life is important.
A: For many people, levothyroxine (Levothroid, Levoxyl, Synthroid, Unithroid) is an effective treatment to replace missing thyroid hormone. Up to 15 percent, though, may have a genetic variation that makes them less efficient at converting levothyroxine (T4) to the active form, triiodothyronine (T3). Many of these individuals feel better taking a desiccated thyroid preparation such as Armour, Nature-Throid or Westhroid.
Q: I have read that an ice-cream headache could stop a migraine, and I have tried to use this method. I have had migraines for 40 years. I have tried triptans, but they caused side effects.
I can’t seem to get an ice-cream headache on demand. Do you have other recommendations for migraines?
A: Though many people have reported that triggering an ice-cream headache at the first hint of a migraine can ward it off, this doesn’t work in every instance. Like you, some migraineurs tell us they cannot induce “brain freeze.”
Other nondrug approaches include herbs like butterbur and feverfew. Riboflavin and magnesium also may help. Some people benefit from acupuncture.