Eating dirt, especially over a long period of time, can increase risk for a number of problems, including:. If you have pica, an eating disorder in which you crave a variety of nonfood items, you may have the urge to eat dirt. Other common pica cravings include:. Pagophagia , persistent ice eating or cravings for ice, can also be a sign of pica.
In some cases, pica cravings may go away once you consume enough iron or other missing nutrients. Eating dirt as part of a cultural practice, or because other people in your family or community also eat dirt, differs from pica. Hippocrates was the first to describe geophagia. Other early medical texts also mention the practice of eating earth to help stomach troubles and menstrual cramps. Throughout history, geophagia has been noted to occur more among pregnant women or in times of famine.
Geophagia still occurs all over the world, though it happens most often in tropical regions. It could be related to foodborne illness , which is common in these climates. Clay can help absorb toxins, so many support earth eating as a way of relieving stomach issues, such as food poisoning.
Although geophagia may not begin as a mental health concern, over time, eating dirt could come to resemble an addiction. Some people report finding it difficult to stop, even after they start having health problems associated with eating dirt. Some may also spend money and travel significant distances to find their preferred clay or soil. Not being able to find or afford a specific type of soil or clay can also lead to distress. Eating dirt may not always cause harm, but it could contribute to a number of health concerns.
Some research also suggests geophagy can interfere with your ability to digest necessary nutrients, since clay in your stomach may bind to iron, zinc, and other nutrients. In other words, eating dirt could increase risk for anemia. You are expected to eat soil [clay]. This is because when you are pregnant and it rains the smell of rain and hormones make you feel like eating soil… Kenyan mother 3.
Clay eating during pregnancy was normal and known in her culture and she put it this way:. Everyone knows pregnant women eat clay in my culture.
When they see, a woman eating clay, they will say, ahhh, you are now pregnant! Even though some people who are not pregnant eat it. When I was pregnant, I would send my husband to get me the clay. Ugandan mother 1. As expressed above, clay ingestion in pregnancy was a phenomenon which participants situated in culture, and as such was readily accepted as well as expected by most people. Her husband, a key figure in decision making with regards to the pregnancy, was also an enabler in the practice.
Though not just only confined to pregnant women, clay ingestion was often interpreted culturally, as a sign of pregnancy before this was potentially confirmed by doctors, midwives or off the counter-pregnancy testing kits.
In addition, clay ingestion was viewed as cultural practice passed from one generation to another as one participant put it this way:. My aunts, mother and pregnant neighbors ate clay back home Kenya.
You see for generations after generation, pregnant women have been eating clay. Kenyan mother It happens clay ingestion in Uganda or all over Africa… when you don't eat it you look pale. We buy it here… the clay, we buy it, they sell it openly. Ugandan Mother 4. However, in some instances clay was brought over from Africa by family members who often traveled there as noted below:. My daughter, she goes back home Kenya often so she brings it for me.
Last time, she brought this clay; I didn't like it that much. It didn't have the normal taste that I like. So, I ate it a bit and threw it away because it didn't taste right. Back home in Ghana, clay is sold at most markets. You can get different types there; it's big, big business because most pregnant women crave for it. Even those not pregnant, some just have a craving. They bake it and package it nicely in plastics like sweets.
Ghanaian mother As the quote above suggests, desire to satisfy cravings was one of the key reasons associated with clay ingestion. When pregnant, you crave for certain things and I would say some of us eat clay because we crave for it. White women here crave for other things, but for us, it's clay. Because we crave for clay, it should not be seen as something to be shamed about. The main concern should be about the source of clay, because some people now buy and sell it. At home, you can go take it from a well-known source … we have ant hills, they have the best clay.
And it is safe, our ancestors ate clay in their pregnancies without anything bad happening to them. Zimbabwean mother 6.
Others made links between cravings and nutrient deficiencies as noted:. When you eat the clay after a craving, you will be satisfied but when you look at the books, it says that you feel like that because you have a deficiency in some nutrients, so the clay helps you there. Kenyan mother 7. Furthermore, the participant went on to defend the practice as safe without being prompted about safety issues against a backdrop of this being a behavior practiced by their ancestors.
As also noted above, some believed that the craving was brought on by a deficiency in nutrients which was complemented by what they believed was in the clay. Even the midwives don't tell you not to eat clay in Nigeria , because they are also women, and when pregnant, they also eat it like everyone else.
They also get the craving. Nigeria mother 9. While the midwives referred to above could be traditional ones as opposed hospital midwives, this nevertheless shows how widely acceptable the practice is. For another participant, the craving was so strong to the extent of waking up just to ingest as noted below:. It started as a habit, but also a craving, but as a pregnant woman, I ate more clay than before. Such that if the craving came upon me in the middle of the night in bed, I would wake up for a bite laughs.
It was always next to my bed side; the craving was really strong. Ghanaian Mother While the majority of women acknowledged eating clay or knowing someone who did as a remedy for cravings, a participant noted that it was often sourced from trusted communal places and which resonates with another participant who referred to anthills as follows:.
When we were growing up in Zimbabwe , there was an ant hill nearby. An elderly woman lived close to it. Everyone called her grandmother as we do, most pregnant women used to go to that anthill to get clay.
That anthill was well-known for its clay because it was tasty. Back then my mother would send me to get her some clay there, but before getting home, I would eat some because it was so good. No one would go there to do their toilet business; it was a special place. Zimbabwean Mother 6. Another participant worried about the commercialization of clay because market sellers were not potentially concerned about their customers but making money:.
There is need to take care now because things have changed. It is now more crucial for the clay to come from the right place.
When things were not commercialized, and clay was free, you knew it was safe. But now with it has become commercialized, you just don't know. People are eager to make money; they don't care about what happens afterwards to pregnant women. Ugandan mother 2. While clay was widely ingested, only one participant among the dozen who made references to clay in the study expressed concern about its safety without being prompted which raises questions about women's knowledge and awareness of the potential risks associated with the practice.
In addition to satisfying cravings, clay was ingested to manage nausea among other things. Two participants put it this way:. There are many things pregnant women eat to rid of morning sickness, some ate lemons, some eat the skin of oranges but clay is an all-rounder.
It can beat morning sickness; it can also be for the craving and for the minerals and vitamins that someone might lack.
Nigerian Mother You see pregnancy can be a difficult time, especially the first 3 months. Some people have no energy to do anything. Some people experience so much nausea and clay helps with that. But you should not eat too much because of constipation. You must drink plenty of water too. Ugandan mother 4. However, if eaten in large quantities there was an awareness of risking constipation. In addition to all above, clay was considered life giving, with religious connotations regarding the beginning of life perceived through creation, and returning to the soil in death.
This participant put it this way:. Everything comes from soil; life comes from the soil. Are we not created from soil? And when we die, we go back to the soil, so there is nothing strange about eating it. Look at the way plants planted in rich clay soils do well and the ones planted in sandy soils don't do well. We too eat the good rich clay, not just any soil. It gives life. Kenyan Mother As much as plants require good rich clays to sustain them, so did the women, particularly during pregnancy when sufficient nutrients are required to sustain the fetus.
Another participant perceived clay as lifesaving during sickness brought on by a traumatic pregnancy:. See, there was a time I was so sick back home Ghana. I was so sick … a difficult pregnancy. Some mothers-to-be, though, crave food that is not food at all — a phenomenon known as "pica.
Here's a quick guide:. What is pica? The word comes from the Latin for "magpie. Scientists haven't pinned down an exact reason, writes Young, but it's either a response to mineral deficiencies or an instinctual effort to "protect against harm from toxins and pathogens. Is pica just eating dirt? Ice is by far the most common nonfood item enjoyed by pregnant women, reports Mental Floss. It's so common it has its own term — "pagophagy.
Is pica unique to pregnant women? Medical University of Vienna. Geophagy: Eating soil could harm babies. Retrieved November 12, from www. They consume between and g per day. The reason behind this habit, which ScienceDaily shares links with sites in the TrendMD network and earns revenue from third-party advertisers, where indicated.
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