<div><p>Candice Knox is a sales executive with an addiction that will leave you baffled. Her favorite treat to eat is a sponge. Not a sponge cake, or sponge toffee, but a literal kitchen sponge. </p><p>That's right, she eats kitchen sponges when she wants a treat. She remembers that her first experience eating a sponge when she was a toddler and would pick the foam padding out of her car seat. </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/58ca104e8d6ed_275tree.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/58ca104e8d6ed_275tree_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>Now that she is an adult, she just buys kitchen sponges and carries them with her in case she gets hungry. "I can't think of any food that has a similar texture to it. Sponge is in a world of its own - it eventually disappears into tiny pieces if you chew it long enough" Candice says of her favorite snack. </p><p>She suffers from Pica, an OCD-type condition that makes people crave items without nutritional value. Candice eats a full size sponge within a week or two and keeps them handy at all times in both her car and her purse. </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/58ca104c6960d_465car.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/58ca104c6960d_465car_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p>Her family doesn't approve but she can't stop. "It has no taste really it is more the smell of it that attracts me. The smell of a wet sponge drives my craving to a point of no return." </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/58ca104e0f9ad_723nibble.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/58ca104e0f9ad_723nibble_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>When she met her now fiance she was worried about what he would think. "When we first met, Clive caught me hiding behind my wardrobe door sneaking a piece into my mouth - obviously, the reaction was as if he had caught me eating a mouse or a live insect," Candice explained. </p><p>She explained why she did it and while he didn't think it was healthy he said he would try to help her stop. He made her talk to a doctor about it who advised her to take iron tablets to try to cure the compulsion. </p><p>She wants to bring attention to the condition, trying to be more open about it with friends and family. She has even started doing this publicly in front of her coworkers who have accepted it. </p><p>Candice does still have to fight off her cravings, and even bans the show Spongebob Squarepants in her house because "it makes my mouth water every time it comes on television." </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/spongebob-nick.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/spongebob-nick_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/spongebob-nick_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>Good luck to Candice with raising awareness for this unique condition. </p><p></p></div>
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