Geophagy

Question 1

Geophagy

Answer 1

Practice of eating soil or soil-like substances such as clay or chalk

Question 2

Pica

Answer 2

Eating disorder - cravings for non-nutritive items

Question 3

Oldest evidence for geophagy

Answer 3

Calcium-rich white clay found alongside bones of Homo habilus at Kalambo Falls near boarder of Zambia and Tanzania

Question 4

Pliny

Answer 4

Writer in ancient Rome who notes ingestion of soil on Lemmos (island of Greece)

Question 5

Textbook of hippocrates links what to geophagia

Answer 5

Anaemia

Question 6

Historical evidence of geophagy from South America

Answer 6

Otomacs (tribe in Venezuela) eat fine yellow-gray clay slightly baked in fire until red crust forms every day to appease hunger

Question 7

Historical evidence of geophagy from Indonesia

Answer 7

In Java - reddish cakes called taanampo made from iron-rich clay

Question 8

Historical evidence of geophagy from Africa

Answer 8

David Livingstones writing about slaves eating soil in Zanzibar which they brought to the “new world”

Question 9

Why did slaves in America continue to practice geophagy

Answer 9

1. perceived nutrition
2. cultural reasons
3. make themselves ill so they could not work
4. to commit suicide in the belief that their spirit would return to their African homeland

Question 10

What was so effective that some plantations had to be abandoned

Answer 10

Suicide by eating large amounts of soil

Question 11

Some slave owners did what to prevent soil eating

Answer 11

Made slaves wear masks

Question 12

Historical evidence of geophagy from North America

Answer 12

Common among poor whites in Southern USA in early 1990s

Question 13

T/F: processed, cooked, and baked dirt is still sold in the rural American South

Answer 13

T

Question 14

What did people in early America believe about eating clay

Answer 14

• increased sexual prowess
• helped pregnant women have an easy delivery

Question 15

Kaolin

Answer 15

Type of clay eaten in contemporary Africa to suppress hunger

Question 16

Sold in most markets in Cameroon, flavoured with spices like black pepper and cardamom

Answer 16

Kaolin

Question 17

Consumed by pregnant or lactating women to reduce nausea and supplement mineral-deficient diet in Africa and Asia

Answer 17

Clay or earth

Question 18

Controversy in west for eating clay

Answer 18

• possibly absorbs toxins in GI tract
• can contain harmful parasites and lead poisoning

Question 19

Geophagy in Kenya

Answer 19

• 73% of children 5-18yrs old eat soil (28 g/day)
• 154 of 275 pregnant women eat soil regularly

Question 20

Contemporary geophagy in Haiti

Answer 20

Poor people eat “dirt cookies’ to survive

Question 21

Summarize reasons why people eat soil

Answer 21

1. sense of fullness in times of famine
2. digestive aid for detoxifying food
3. pharmaceutical to treat nausea
4. psychological reasons (help anxiety)
5. intentional illness/suicide
6. perceived benefit

Question 22

Indegineous people in Andes ate clay dip with what, why

Answer 22

Potatoes, potatoes contained toxic chemicals and clay helped prevent absorption of toxins or promoted excretion

Question 23

Negative effects of eating soil

Answer 23

1. mineral nutrient deficiencies (particularly iron)
2. toxicity (can contain heavy metals)
3. ingestion of bacteria or geohelminths (worms)
4. intestinal blockage and excessive tooth wear

Question 24

Why is iron so deficient in clay eaters

Answer 24

only 0.5% of iron in clay can be absorbed by humans

Question 25

Phosphorus role in body

Answer 25

Forms bones

Question 26

Potassium role in body

Answer 26

catalyst in protein synthesis and energy release

Question 27

Calcium role in body

Answer 27

Promotes bone growth in conjunction with Vit D

Question 28

Magnesium role in body

Answer 28

Protein synthesis, energy release, calcification, secretion of thyroxine, contraction of nerve impulses, and metabolic rate

Question 29

Copper role in body

Answer 29

Associate with hemoglobin and enzyme systems

Question 30

Zinc role in body

Answer 30

Constituent and catalyst of enzymes for metabolism and sexual development

Question 31

Maganese role in body

Answer 31

Catalyst for enzymes, helps store thiamine

Question 32

Iron role in body

Answer 32

Hemoglobin synthesis and enzyme systems

Question 33

Clays in Southern Nigeria - study results

Answer 33

• rich kaolinite content clays serve as antacid
• Staphylococcus aureus and micrococcus acidophilus common of all samples
• little or no nutritive value in clays

Question 34

Why was clay made a popular poison antidote in ancient times

Answer 34

Capacity to bind some elements