It seems that science actually has a name for it. Science calls it geophagy. Others call it eating dirt. While it may seem like some sort of bizarre eating disorder to some, it is a way of life for many others around the world. In many countries of the world, dirt is somewhat of a dietary staple especially for pregnant women and many children.
A young female college student in France, named Sheila, talks about her life as a young girl in her native country of Cameroon. There, it is known as Kaolin and it is not some fancy new street drug. It is, simply, dirt.
“I was in primary school,” Sheila said. “My aunt would eat it and it was often me that had to go and buy it or her. Many people back home consume it every day. Many are dependent on it.”
Cameroon “kaolin” for sale at the local market
Eating dirt in Cameroon is a cultural staple that goes back further than the European colonization of Africa. Sera Young, a researcher at Cornell University, has studied this world wide phenomenon and she still can’t seem to understand its wide use around the world.
Her research has uncovered the fact that much of eating dirt seems to take place in the tropical regions of the planet and she has found the practice in such countries as Iran, Namibia and Argentina. In addition, her research has uncovered that the largest consumers of dirt seem to be pregnant women and children. She also believes that the consumption of dirt doesn’t get as highly reported in many countries because of social taboos.
Young speaks of an opera singer she knows from New York City who ate dirt while she was pregnant. “These non food cravings happen a lot and they happen right under our noses. I was conducting interviews (in Tanzania) with pregnant women about iron deficiencies and anemia. I was sitting on the floor of this woman’s house and I asked her what she liked to eat during her pregnancy. She said: ‘Twice a day, I take earth from the wall of my house and I eat it.'”
At nearly all African markets around the world, you can buy dirt to eat.
Young, to say the least, was in shock as she just shakes her head and explains that eating dirt goes against everything she has been trained to do. Young found that in many African markets, such as in Kenya, dirt can be had and even had in flavors. If you are in London, just go to an African market and ask for “pregnancy clay”. Even in the American state of Georgia, renowned the world over for its fertile dirt, you can find websites where their dirt is for sale and packaged in small white packets.
Dirt is not just dirt, however. Dirt has been found to relieve gastric distress as well as nausea and can absorb many of the toxins and poisons taken in by the body. Monkeys have been known to eat dirt after ingesting some manner of toxin or poison. In addition, it is now becoming thought that dirt contains certain nutritional items and benefits that people just aren’t getting in their normal diets regardless of where they live. Their bodies are telling them they need what it is in the dirt and, so, the nutritional value of dirt is enhanced.
PHOTO CREDITS: BBC / Pixabay