1/21/2024 0 Comments Pica disorder maskAnd both disorders have a genetic connection. The Eat White Dirt documentary is set for release late this summer in select venues.These two disorders share certain symptoms and cause similar problems. I want to go get white dirt now.' I just want a greater understanding of this practice." "I'm not out to make a film where people walk away and say, 'Wow. "In the past 20 years, the practice has really gone undercover, and it's not really talked about because of embarrassment," he tells The Salt. One of the reasons why we don't understand pica fully, she says, is that it is a hidden behavior - and Forrester hopes his film opens up the conversation. Given its prevalence, it's long overdue for clinical drug studies," says Young. "There are literally hundreds of thousands - if not millions - who are intrigued, disturbed and devastated by these cravings. There are also questions about whether anemia causes pica, or the other way around, Young says. Paul Schroeder, a geologist specializing in kaolin at the University of Georgia, says while the habit may have evolved as a protective measure, it may be harmful to our health.Ĭlay's amazing binding properties could backfire and absorb useful nutrients, which is particularly dangerous for pregnant women, he says. Young, I'm picking up this box of Argo corn starch to protect myself from the pathogens in my environment.' They're saying what the impetus is, the smell and the taste," says Young. "I can assure you that no one has said, 'Actually, Dr. Pica sufferers also tend to be concentrated in hot, humid areas, where pathogens multiply and spread more rapidly than in cold, dry climates.īut are people really aware of this when they reach for clay? The immune system is slightly suppressed during pregnancy, protecting the fetus from rejection.īut that also makes the body more susceptible to harm by toxins (hence the warnings against eating raw cheese and sushi). Young says this might explain why pregnant women suffer the most intense pica cravings. Experiments show rats that ingested kaolin had reduced effects of sickness and death when exposed to poisons. So when you swallow clay, "it binds to all these harmful chemicals and exits the body before entering your bloodstream," Young says.īut before you go running out to dig, know that there haven't been any clinical trials using clay as an antidote for poison, Young says. When you put a mud mask on your face, the binding properties in the clay draw out the impurities. Young says it may have a similar effect in the human body, acting as a "mud mask for the gut." But she says this behavior was practiced independently among Native American populations long before Columbus arrived.Ī shopping center in Sandersville, Ga., which is known as the "Kaolin Capital of the World." from sub-Saharan Africa during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Nutritional anthropologist Sera Young at Cornell University says it's often thought that slaves introduced the practice to the U.S. There's evidence that our ancestors were eating dirt at least 2 million years ago, when Homo sapiens were still Homo habilis. For starters, it's not a recent phenomenon. Forrester, an assistant professor of photography at Troy University, says he has spoken with shop owners who receive orders from as far away as London.Įating dirt has a unique history. Hundreds of thousands of people eat dirt around the world. His new documentary, Eat White Dirt, takes a closer look at this bizarre, under-the-radar practice.Įating dirt is not just some weird fetish in the South. "Whether they tell you or not, people are eating it," says Forrester, who first came across packaged clay in his hometown of Columbus, Ga. Seeing those bags is what piqued filmmaker Adam Forrester's interest. Though they're labeled as "novelty items," everybody knows what they're for. Today, local stores and flea markets throughout the South sell and package dirt in small Ziploc bags. Hillman noticed that only women craved dirt, especially when they were pregnant. Mamie Lee Hillman discusses the history of kaolin in and around Georgia's Greene County.
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