Bizarre Non-Food Items That People Eat Regularly
Have you ever looked at a fridge magnet and got hungry? Have you ever wandered past a pack of batteries and felt the urge to snack? If that sounds crazy, it is. But, there are people who find that very attractive, believe it or not.
If you don't believe me, prepare your mind to be blown. This article dives deep into non-food items that people actually eat.
Batteries
Batteries are just something that you inherently know are bad for you to swallow. Like, you might not be sure why, but you know you shouldn't.
But still, more than 3,500 Americans swallow batteries every year. If the mercury that's in it finds your bloodstream, you'll probably die. Sorry.
Soap
Remember when parents used to wash kids mouths out with soap? Yeah, me too. As gross as that is, it would be one 19-year-old from Florida's dream.
She used to eat five bars of soap a week during stressful points in her life. She has since had a change of heart. Thank god.
Dryer Sheets
I'm not going to lie to you, I probably love the smell of dryer sheets more than most do. But this is too much.
A 35-year-old woman says she consumes as many as eight dryer sheets a day. The chemicals on them are terrible, but at least her breath probably smells great.
Urine
If you've ever watched any survivor/trapped on a deserted island movie, you know that drinking your own urine has been around for a while.
People like Bear Grylls do it for health and healing reasons. It's common to consume it for survival purposes, but people are now advising against it. I completely agree.
Tapeworm
If you're like me, the thought of having a tapeworm living inside your body is enough to make you puke in your mouth.
One person decided to try the tapeworm diet which involves ingesting an infected beef carcass followed by a tapeworm. That worm will then eat most of the food that's swallowed with it. Uh, yuck.
Toilet Paper
You may have seen this on TV already. The show My Strange Addiction featured a woman who eats half a roll of toilet paper every day.
She claims that she loves the way it feels when it touches her tongue. She says she REALLY loves to snack on it during movies. Okay, that's going to be a no from me dawg.
Couch Cushions
It's completely normal to love your couch. It's the place where you relax after a long day and watch your favorite TV show.
For a Florida woman named Adele, it's also her comfort food. She literally eats couch cushions. She says she's eaten over 200 pounds of the stuff which is VERY concerning.
Magnets
A little girl from Portland was rushed to the hospital with severe stomach pain. When the doctors first looked at the x-ray, they thought she had swallowed a bracelet.
It turns out that she swallowed magnets that tore three holes into her lower intestine. It's an all-around bad time if you swallow magnets, so don't do it.
Glass
Woah, slow down Criss Angel. An Ohio man has consumed more than 250 light bulbs and 100 wine and champagne glasses.
He says that it gives him a warm feeling inside, but admits that he is addicted to the attention he gets for doing it more than the glass itself. Thanks for the honesty.
Cockroaches
Get ready for this story because it's incredible. A woman accidentally swallowed a cockroach when it jumped into her mouth.
She quickly went to grab a fork to try to get it out of her throat. Well, she swallowed the fork too. She had to go to the hospital to get it surgically removed.
Chalk
Just when you think that nothing bad can be said about sidewalk chalk, this happens. A 22-year-old named Krystin developed a weird habit of licking chalk when she was younger.
That habit led to her ingesting it later on. Her friends and family all tried it and hated it. Who would've thought?
Coins
If you think you have some weird eating habits, just wait until you hear about this 62-year- old Frenchman.
He managed to swallow over $650 worth of Euro coins. They said he would take other people's coins and save them as a snack. I think I'll end up just sticking to chocolate and ice cream.
Cigarette Ash
It's becoming very common to think that even smoking a cigarette is repulsive, and rightly so. I mean, the chemicals in those things are absurd.
But, for a girl named Bianca, smoking them wasn't enough. She became addicted to eating the ash. She said it had a "salty" and "gritty" taste that she thoroughly enjoyed.
A Stolen Ring
I guess if you want an engagement ring bad enough, you'll do what you have to do. One English man swallowed a ring he wanted, and told the employee at the diamond store that he gave it back.
Police weren't having any of it and made him take an x-ray, which quickly affirmed their suspicions.
Mothballs
Do you even know what mothballs are? If you do, you're probably envisioning your grandma's winter sweaters.
However, mothballs have been known to provide a narcotic effect if misused. One of the active ingredients can do some serious damage to people, yet, they still chomp them down.
Dentures
If you think love is dead, you've never heard this story. A married couple of many decades were sharing a passionate kiss when something awfully tragic happened.
The elderly woman swallowed her husband's dentures. Yes, you're reading that correctly. Yes, it's disgusting. She did not require surgery to get it out, which is a positive.
Razor Blades
This next story is a reminder that swallowing razor blades isn't cool or fun to do on a dare. Heck, it's not cool or fun to do even if you WANTED to do it.
A Desert Storm veteran swallowed razor blades on a dare. It didn't go well for him. He was rushed to the ER (not shocking).
Hair
I hope this isn't a newsflash for anyone, but hair doesn't digest very easily. One 18-year-old found that out the hard way.
Doctors surgically removed a 10-pound hairball from her stomach that measured 15 inches in length. She admitted to eating her hair for years, but has since quit. I don't blame her.
Human Ashes
It's completely normal to love your family members to death, but not in this way. One woman was transferring her late-husband's ashes when some landed on her hand. She tasted him (ew).
She became very attracted to the taste and has since continued to eat some of his ashes every single day.
Toothbrushes
I don't know how someone swallows a toothbrush while they're casually brushing their teeth, but it apparently happens.
A 24-year-old Israeli woman was a victim of the toothbrush swallow. She had to go to two doctors before they believed that she was capable of doing that. It was promptly removed endoscopically.
