# Ask the guy who has Pica **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 11, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795 "2009-12-11T00:04:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/21 "2009-12-11T05:25:34Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Thanks for answering the questions. Do you also ever feel full from eating paper? Not typically. Occasionally, I will use it to subsist if I’ve lost a meal somewhere along the line, but that’s usually a sign of a completely different problem I have (which is a different thread, that I probably won’t make). But the paper is not hunger filling in and of itself. Which is good, because it’s a sign that I probably won’t end up inadvertently anorexic (something that can happen to people with untreated Pica). ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/22 "2009-12-11T05:28:21Z")
Have you always craved paper, or have there been other things that you’ve tried before finding that you liked paper the best? Do you eat any other non-food items? ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/23 "2009-12-11T05:33:56Z")
> [@statsman1982](#): > > Have you always craved paper, or have there been other things that you’ve tried before finding that you liked paper the best? Do you eat any other non-food items? I ate (my own) mucus for a few years. I did a lot of behavioral training going on for that one, and I finally kicked that habit a while ago, because obviously that is a lot more hindering socially (i.e. really freaking gross) than eating paper. I tried eating fabric once or twice, but I never enjoyed the taste. I have no problem eating my own blood when I get a bloody nose, but don’t otherwise seek out blood, and that one never reaches beyond the mouth being a handy containment area while I find tissues. I used to chew on plastic and wood, but never actually ate any of that. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/24 "2009-12-11T05:40:13Z")
> [@pedescribe](#): > > I ate (my own) mucus for a few years. I did a lot of behavioral training going on for that one, and I finally kicked that habit a while ago, because obviously that is a lot more hindering socially (i.e. really freaking gross) than eating paper. I tried eating fabric once or twice, but I never enjoyed the taste. I have no problem eating my own blood when I get a bloody nose, but don’t otherwise seek out blood, and that one never reaches beyond the mouth being a handy containment area while I find tissues. I used to chew on plastic and wood, but never actually ate any of that. And before anyone asks, no, I do not find and never have found anything at all appealing about either urine or feces. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/25 "2009-12-11T07:52:50Z")
How do you feel about the socially acceptable forms of eating paper ([edible paper](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_paper)) or wood ([liquorice root)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquorice_root)? l Loved edible paper as a kid, the stuff hosts are made from, and the stamps on the side of bread, and the papery stuff underneath a maroon or cupcake. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/26 "2009-12-11T07:55:10Z")
> [@pedescribe](#): > > I ate (my own) mucus for a few years. I did a lot of behavioral training going on for that one, and I finally kicked that habit a while ago, because obviously that is a lot more hindering socially (i.e. really freaking gross) You mean coughing it up and then eating it? Or eating what you pick from yournose? [innocently]doens’t everybody do that in private? [/innocently] ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/27 "2009-12-11T10:49:50Z")
> [@pedescribe](#): > > although I recently discovered that lavender-colored paper tastes delicious. Like a honey-glazed chicken broth-dipped celery stick. No idea why, since most dyes taste terrible (seriously–there is nothing worse than an orange piece of paper. It’s like…burning rotten corn.). Hm, could there be some synesthesia going on? I have made spit balls out of a number of different papers fairly recently [spitball fight with my goddaughters] and I didn’t notice the different colors of paper tasting different from each other, though types tended to taste different [different chemical processing maybe?] I suppose I could try to get them together and have another spitball fight, just for experimental purposes 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/28 "2009-12-11T14:58:35Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > How do you feel about the socially acceptable forms of eating paper ([edible paper](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_paper)) or wood ([liquorice root)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquorice_root)? l Loved edible paper as a kid, the stuff hosts are made from, and the stamps on the side of bread, and the papery stuff underneath a maroon or cupcake. I’ve had some of that, and it just tastes like thin frosting. A completely different taste and texture. > [@Maastricht](#): > > You mean coughing it up and then eating it? Or eating what you pick from yournose? [innocently]doens’t everybody do that in private? [/innocently] The latter. And if I had done it in private it mayn’t have been an issue. But I didn’t, so I trained, and then I started eating paper. > [@aruvqan](#): > > Hm, could there be some synesthesia going on? I have made spit balls out of a number of different papers fairly recently [spitball fight with my goddaughters] and I didn’t notice the different colors of paper tasting different from each other, though types tended to taste different [different chemical processing maybe?] > > I suppose I could try to get them together and have another spitball fight, just for experimental purposes 😃 I dunno. It would certainly be interesting to do a blind taste test. But for that, I’d have to find an administer. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/29 "2009-12-11T15:04:36Z")
Dyes do often have different source materials that they are made from. The red dye Carmine is made in part from carminic acid, which is harvested from the Cochineal bug that produces it. By “harvested” I mean “made from their ground-up bodies and eggs.”; Annatto (a reddish-orange colour) is made from the seeds of the Achiote plant; there are also other natural dyes made from turmeric, saffron, paprika, beets, and other natural items. On the other hand there are synthetic dyes (all those FD&C listings on ingredients) made from things like coal tar, calcium and potassium salts, triphenyl methane, and other such things, so I imagine that to those sensitive to them, there could very well be different tastes among coloured papers – and I’ve no doubt some of them probably taste awful. When I was a wee tot in early grade school I remember putting crepe paper in my mouth (this was in the 70s, yet even so I don’t know what possessed me) and recall it had this kind of intense chemical flavour to it with a distinctly sour note, no doubt from the dye used, but I remember thinking it was quite odd that paper should have such a strong flavour. I don’t know if it’s the same way with crepe paper nowadays, though. I have a question: Do you get tempted when you see a new or different sort of paper you’ve never tried before? Like, if you hadn’t tried it already and upon reading my description of crepe paper above, do you get the urge to try it out? Also, have you tried edible woody materials like sugar cane or cinnamon sticks? ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/30 "2009-12-11T15:13:25Z")
> [@Mindfield](#): > > I have a question: Do you get tempted when you see a new or different sort of paper you’ve never tried before? Like, if you hadn’t tried it already and upon reading my description of crepe paper above, do you get the urge to try it out? > > Also, have you tried edible woody materials like sugar cane or cinnamon sticks? 1. Yeah, definitely. I don’t usually try different dyes, since there are so many horrid ones, but new textures or types I’ll go for when I find them. 2. And I’ve tried them. But they don’t taste the same, or even similar, to paper. Paper–all paper has a taste all its own, apart from any other foodstuff I’ve ever found. It’s really hard to describe. It’s like…a cross between licking a Popsicle stick, eating celery…but there’s this sort of warm taste there too, along with a hint of sweetness. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/31 "2009-12-11T15:21:59Z")
I had pica when I was pregnant (with both pregnancies) because I was anemic. When I got that straightened out (with prescription iron supplements), it went away. I never actually ate anything I shouldn’t have, but my cravings were for powdered laundry detergent, especially Napisan, and a eucalyptus wool wash I had. I also craved the smell of cigarette smoke, musty places (I’d go stand in my friends garage and breathe the smell in) and ice. I ate a TON of ice. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/32 "2009-12-11T15:45:01Z")
> [@pedescribe](#): > > 1. Yeah, definitely. I don’t usually try different dyes, since there are so many horrid ones, but new textures or types I’ll go for when I find them. Do you have a particular type of paper you would be more likely to go out of your way for? For example, do you prefer linen over plain bond, or perhaps have a particular affinity for coated stock? > [@pedescribe](#): > > 1. And I’ve tried them. But they don’t taste the same, or even similar, to paper. Paper–all paper has a taste all its own, apart from any other foodstuff I’ve ever found. It’s really hard to describe. It’s like…a cross between licking a Popsicle stick, eating celery…but there’s this sort of warm taste there too, along with a hint of sweetness. So is it the flavour and texture component that is more compelling than simply the need to keep your mouth busy? ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/33 "2009-12-11T15:49:49Z")
So that was **you** on Jeopardy! this week who said the main ingredient of a Tootsie Roll was paper? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/34 "2009-12-11T15:55:47Z")
I’ve always eaten paper - not compulsively, but I just, on occasion, like a little paper. I sometimes tore the edges off pages in a book and ate them when I was about 8 or 9. My sister took well-known Englishman in New York Quentin Crisp out to dinner once and told him (as explanation why she’d never lend his book to me) they’d found pages 26 and 27 of Little Women in my appendix. In fact, I did eat a good part of that book! I am now 46 years old and I still eat the occasional straw wrapper. It’s delicious. One of my work-study students confirms that she enjoys it as well. A napkin soaked in melted chocolate soft serve is not bad either for obvious reasons - it tastes like chocolate! ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/35 "2009-12-11T16:18:01Z")
> [@Mindfield](#): > > Do you have a particular type of paper you would be more likely to go out of your way for? For example, do you prefer linen over plain bond, or perhaps have a particular affinity for coated stock? Not really, no. While there are differences, most of them are not significantly different. > [@Mindfield](#): > > So is it the flavour and texture component that is more compelling than simply the need to keep your mouth busy? I have no idea. > [@dhkendall](#): > > So that was **you** on Jeopardy! this week who said the main ingredient of a Tootsie Roll was paper? 🙂 Hah! 🙂 > [@Caricci](#): > > I’ve always eaten paper - not compulsively, but I just, on occasion, like a little paper. I sometimes tore the edges off pages in a book and ate them when I was about 8 or 9. My sister took well-known Englishman in New York Quentin Crisp out to dinner once and told him (as explanation why she’d never lend his book to me) they’d found pages 26 and 27 of Little Women in my appendix. In fact, I did eat a good part of that book! > > I am now 46 years old and I still eat the occasional straw wrapper. It’s delicious. One of my work-study students confirms that she enjoys it as well. > > A napkin soaked in melted chocolate soft serve is not bad either for obvious reasons - it tastes like chocolate! Cool! That reminds me of the time I was studying for the SAT. I went a little overboard on SAT books, which I had no respect for due to…well, duh. And they have cruddy paper, which does not last. So I would study a page, rip it out, and eat it. Study a page, rip it out and eat it. Then i burned what was left. I hated that book. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/36 "2009-12-11T16:18:58Z")
> [@pedescribe](#): > > I think a lot of it is just doing something with my mouth. I can’t eat gum, because the flavored stuff leaves me wanting to replace it after a bit and the only flavorless gum out there is expensive and labeled [Nihilist](http://www.amazon.com/Accoutrements-Nihilist-Chewing-Gum/dp/B000HJEBZ4), which I refuse to pay for. Have you ever tried beeswax? ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/37 "2009-12-11T17:57:08Z")
I used to eat paper (little bits at a time) and erasers as a kid. Don’t know if that qualifies as pica. I’d be hard pressed to answer a lot of the questions here. I think it was mainly an oral fixation. I don’t do it now, but I’m not repulsed by the idea either. Also, eating boogers and snot is freaking gross, whether alone or in public. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/38 "2009-12-11T20:04:02Z")
I had pica when I was a kid, living in Indonesia. I was really, really skinny (I graduated from high school at 6 feet, 1 inches and weighed 120 pounds). I ate paper, the wood from pencils, and erasers. I mostly ate the corners of pages from old books. I believe these pages had a high fiber content. However, I would resort to notebook paper if I needed to. I would chew the pencils until I got to the graphite. I know I preferred American pencils (Dixon Ticonderogas) as opposed to the cheaper, round pencils available in Asia. I also loved the erasers. All of this behavior stopped when I got to college in San Diego and started putting on weight. Nowadays, the only paper I eat are the sticks from lollipops. I am fairly certain I was driven by some sort of nutritional deficiency. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/39 "2009-12-11T20:09:16Z")
> [@toodlepip](#): > > And when you were in school, did you ever use the excuse “I ate my homework”? Anecdote not related to thread, not worthy of it’s own thread: In first grade, I went to school and the teacher asked me where my math homework was. I said “The dog ate it last night.” She went off on me, asking how I could say that, and didn’t I know that God doesn’t like liars, and if I thought she was stupid, yadda yadda. I, this dejected, pathetic looking, 7-yr old, started crying and said (truthfully), “No, I mean she died.” I think I made the teacher cry. ---
**Author:** ![Coalcracker0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b38774/32.png) [@Coalcracker0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coalcracker0)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-pica/520795/40 "2009-12-12T00:39:42Z")
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