I had wondered for some time why
certain dirts were not more commonly consumed.
Once again, if you wait long enough the answer will present itself. Yes it is done. It is just we do not as we are hardly close
to nature anymore.
The secret is that clay is an
altered form of volcanic ash which retains a significant level of the original
reactivity of the ash. The key ashes are
actually one of several varieties of solid crystalline acids. These acids, been non soluble are unable to
actually do damage but are able to bind any free radicals around in the
environment. They stabilize or at least
assist in stabilizing stomach and digestive chemistry.
Certainly they would be an actual
aid to digestion and a natural supplier of minerals as needed by the digestive
system.
Of course, one boils the clays
involved and I sort of think that any organics can be separated nicely through
floatation and hydraulic separation.
The dirty diet: Dirt and clay soothes and protects the stomach
By Nadine Bells | Shine – Wed, 8 Jun, 2011
10:49 AM EDT
Geophagy, the practice of eating dirt, is a common craving among
pregnant women. Young children often snack on dirt and clay — mud pies, anyone?
— when playing outdoors. And in warm, tropical climates, the practice is
surprisingly common.
So if you’re craving dirt, you’re not alone. Nor are you crazy.
There may be health benefits to munching on dirt that your body intuitively
understands.
A new study found that people eat dirt even
in areas where food is plenty, ruling out the previously assumed
hunger-motivation of the practice. As for dirt providing any nutritional
benefits, the clay often dug up for consuming proved relatively void of healthy
minerals.
Instead, dirt-eating is most common in tropical climates where
foodborne pathogens threaten the digestive tract. "We found that it was
pregnant women and young children who are eating clay, those who are the most
vulnerable to infectious diseases. It was occurring where the pathogen density
was higher, in warm, moist climates," Cornell University
researcher Sera Young told
LiveScience.
"We found that it was pregnant women and young children who are
eating clay, those who are the most vulnerable to infectious diseases. It was
occurring where the pathogen density was higher, in warm, moist climates,"
Cornell University researcher Sera Young told
LiveScience.
In Tanzania and
other areas of Africa , rates of dirt-eating
among pregnant woman range from 30 to 60 per cent. In certain areas of the United States ,
rates vary between 20 and 40 per cent. Dirt protects the vulnerable — often
women and children — from parasites and pathogens, and soothed irritated
intestines.
"This clay can either bind to harmful things, like microbes,
pathogens and viruses, that we are eating or can make a barrier, like a mud
mask for our gut," said
Young, who also authored the book "Craving Earth: Understanding Pica —
the Urge to Eat Clay, Starch, Ice, and Chalk."
It should be noted that clay for consumption is typically
boiled first and comes
from deep in the ground, where it’s cleaner and unaffected by
pathogens. Topsoil has the most biological activity and risks being a source of
infection. Live
Science points out that clay was once an ingredient in the
stomach-soothing antidiarrheal medicine Koapectate before lead-contamination
concerns dictated its removal.
The study is only the beginning of much-needed research on the topic.
Eating dirt poses a unique set of risks, from infection to constipation to
mineral deficiencies. Instead of digging lunch out of the sandbox, it’s best
advised that stomach-soothing
solutions be sought from real foods like ginger, kefir, cardamom and
rooibos tea.
No comments:
Post a Comment