When I was working at a newspaper in Phnom Penh a few years ago, my Cambodian colleague went on a no ice diet. It was the hottest part of the year and our office ran on sweet iced coffees by day and iced beers by night. She refused both, as did many Cambodian women that year. Ice, she explained when asked, provided an unwelcome shock to the metabolism and therefore slowed it down. When you encounter a fad diet whose logic you are unfamiliar with, its ridiculousness slaps you in the face. And yet at the exact same time as Cambodian women were sweating their way through the summer months, American and European media outlets were lending serious credence to another ice diet evangelist. According to the American gastroenterologist Brian Weiner, anyone hoping to lose weight shouldn’t cut out ice, they should eat enormous quantities of it. His logic, as reported by This story is from Kinfolk Issue Twenty-Six Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 19 Going Incognito We all secretly wonder what mischief we’d make if invisible: When our identity is hidden, everything seems possible. Arts & Culture Issue 19 The Best Policy Sometimes we talk to each other without feeling heard. Honesty—a most intimate interaction—can be just as thrilling as its more devious inverse. Arts & Culture Issue 19 A Sense of Suspense With unhinged imaginations and mountains of cliff-hangers, the filmmakers behind the sci-fi podcast Limetown have all the makings of a scary story. Arts & Culture Issue 19 Like Clockwork In this new column about time, we learn how slipping off our watches makes us feel like deadline-damning renegades. Design Issue 19 David Rager David Rager, co-founder of design firm Weekends, shares his tale of LA and Paris and how he makes time for life’s little distractions. Arts & Culture Music Issue 19 On a Grander Scale Malaysian singer-songwriter Yuna now may live on the opposite side of the globe, but she’s determined to evolve while staying true to her roots.
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