Roulet's Law Why Nazis humans have been eating soil for more than two million years pica can result in lead poisoning, explaining lead accumulates in our body, hair and teeth.

Risky, weird, wild cravings: Why some people eat non-food items pica could be as a result of nutritional deficiency.

By Hellen Shikanda

Health and Science Reporter

Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

• Pica could be as a result of nutritional deficiency.

Two of my senses surprise me with what excites them. First, it is my sense of smell that makes me have an odd longing for the rain’s scent when it falls on dry land –known as petrichor. And then, my taste buds, which get a hypnotic feeling when edible clay (udongo) lands on my tongue. For about four years now, I have been snacking on edible clay, and unchaining this fondness is akin to denying a dog bones when it is within their reach.

I don’t remember what triggered this craving, but ending this habit has been inexorable. It has become an addiction –an expensive one, especially to my health. As a science reporter, I started researching about people like me, those who have weird non-food cravings, and I learnt that there is a medical name for that: Pica. It is a Latin name for the magpie bird, which is known for eating almost anything.

In her book, she explains that in modern medical literature, there are specific names for pica depending on the non-food item that someone eats. Most of the names have Greek origins. For people who eat edible clay like me for instance, geophagy is the term that describes that craving. For raw starch non-nutritive foods like rice, they are referred to as amylophagy, and for ice cubes like Stacy’s craving, it is known as pagophagy. Other non-food items that people ingest include; chalk, charcoal, ash, flour, newspaper, toilet paper, paint chips, used coffee grounds, baby powder, and paint chips.

She explains that the most common form of pica is geophagy, which studies show is consumed in six continents. Her book explains that humans have been eating soil for more than two million years. She cautions that not all geophagy is pica, it only becomes pica when strong cravings are involved.

In her book, Prof Young says pica may cause anaemia, and vice versa.

 “Anaemia, simply put, is a condition in which hemoglobin concentration is too low. Haemoglobin is a protein with many vital functions, and one of its most important is transporting oxygen to cells throughout the body. Thus, a deficiency of haemoglobin means that red blood cells are not getting enough oxygen,” she writes.

She says that pica can result in lead poisoning, explaining  lead accumulates in our body, hair and teeth.

 “Acute lead poisoning causes seizures, comas and death. Lead poisoning is particularly scary because most of it happens without warning (except for the kind of lead poisoning inflicted by Wild West gunslingers). Lead poisoning is also linked to anaemia, since lead interferes with haemoglobin synthesis,” reads an excerpt of Craving Earth.

https://nation.africa/kenya/health/risky-weird-wild-cravings-why-some-people-eat-non-food-items-4856778