Livingston didn’t believe that poverty and famine caused earth eating habits because he noticed even the wealthy participated in this delicacy. This red clay-like dirt could have been Bentonite Clay, which today we understand to have both medicinal minerals and vermicidal properties.ĭavid Livingston’s journals commented about Safura, an earth-eating disease in Zanzibar, as they also preferred a red clay brand. There were reserves of large heaps of red dirt stored for periods of famine. What is Alexander von Humboldt known for?Īside from being a nature researcher, scientist and explorer, Humboldt described geophagia in detail, asserting the explanation that this behaviour was to quell hunger. The Otomacs eat earth that is, they wolf it down in quite considerable amounts. "This area, populated by the Otomacs, a forgotten tribe (from Venezuela), shows the most peculiar behaviour. Hippocrates informs us, Emperor Justinian of Constantinople’s physician, Aetius of Ameda, compiled a 6th-century obstetric textbook giving us such evidence: Thus, people succumb to eating dirt, defined as geophagia, which has been with us since Byzantium. It’s possible that when the body is lacking such nutrients, cravings necessitate immediate fuel. Without a doubt, the soil contains nutrients. It’s the body requiring either iron or mineral support in the gestation phase. The old pun, “dill pickles & ice cream stage,” referring to the wild cravings of pregnancy. Geophagia - also known as eating dirt disorder is a common disorder in approximately 10% – 30% of children between one and six. Pica refers to people eating non-food items like dirt, clay, paint chips, glue, or ashes. Sometimes it’s just the curious, experimental stage that kids eventually grow out of. Customarily, the pediatrician would administer a blood test to determine possible geophagia and iron deficiency anemia, or other underling circumstances, which compel the child to eat dirt. There are reports of eating dirt or clay expressing this concern. Likewise, some children don’t grow evenly. In animals, a hair test is good to do to pinpoint which minerals are lacking. The puppy’s bones need time to fuse, so it is expected that there may be possible calcium and mineral deficiencies linked to rapid, uneven growth. The giant breed dogs grow at an accelerated rate. His front teeth indicated that this was possibly something that he indulged in since he was a pup because the lower teeth were ground down, probably from chewing on pebbles and rocks. Our large wolfhound had the gentlest disposition, but he liked to eat dirt.
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