Eating clay as part of a regular diet was widely brought to attention by Shailene Woodley, an actress who thought of it as a way to cleanse her body and lose weight. Although there may be some health benefits of this diet trend, it is not widely accepted.

According to New York Daily News the negative charges in the edible clay bond to the positive charges on toxins and heavy metals in your body and then you excrete it all. But according to nutritionist Despina Hyde of the NYU Langone Medical Center, the clay could actually poison you with impurities like lead and arsenic.

Clay Remedies has a long list of the benefits of consuming clay including help with ulcers, indigestion, constipation, diarrhea, clearer skin, along with many others but the main benefit that has come from research on eating clay is the detoxification properties. Pregnant women are one of the most common people to eat clay across the globe and because of the body’s unique needs during pregnancy a lot can be learned about the reasoning behind why people eat clay. Scientists have hypothesized that “earth-eating” has evolved because of its survival benefits that are based on nutritional needs.

Clay eating can be an important part of the diet in African populations especially because of their deficiencies in calcium and iron. Those in the south have eaten kaolin clay which is thought to have digestive benefits that help with diarrhea and getting rid of toxins in the digestive tract. Clay should only be a supplementary part and most likely only for those that don’t have access to a healthy diet because the typical healthy diet is sufficient without eating nutrients that could potentially be gained from eating clay.

You can buy clay from several different sources like Terramin without any special doctors recommendation but you should let your doctor know if you are trying a new diet like this.

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