Does Eating Ice Burn Calories?

The human body burns calories 24 hours a day, even during sleep. The heart needs fuel to keep beating, the lungs to deflate and expand, eyelids to flutter during dreams, cells to divide and intestines to digest food. Simple acts like chewing, talking and standing all burn calories.

Basal Metabolic Rate

• A 30-year-old woman who is 5'6" tall and weighs 120 pounds needs approximately 1,339 calories per day to maintain her weight if she does nothing but stay in bed all day. If she is moderately active and exercises three to four times per week, she would need an additional 700 to 800 calories to maintain her weight; less and she would lose weight. That's why exercise is key to weight loss.

Calories Burned

• The body burns calories to chew and melt ice.

  According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average 154-pound person uses 370 calories per hour while hiking, 330 calories while dancing, 280 calories walking and 440 calories per hour while lifting weights.

Weight Loss

• A person burns 85 calories per hour while eating; more when chewing ice while the body melts and warms the ice to body temperature. Although chewing ice uses calories, it provides no nutrients or fuel necessary to maintain health. And habitual ice chewing can damage tooth enamel.