Calabar chalk, which is also known as white dirt, kaolin clay, soft clay, china clay and Nzu in West Africa possess multiple purposes, among them consumption. Calabar chalk is located in various places worldwide, practically in all continents and it is identified by different names in the areas that it is found. It appears in different colors ranging from white, brownish and even yellowish in these regions. People take calabar chalk for many reasons, some traditional or cultural and others for medicinal purposes.
White dirt eating Among Pregnant Women
Expectant women have been possibly the most common human populations who exercise the deliberate ingestion of earth-based components. In sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in some West African countries such as Nigeria as well as some east African nations, white dirt eating is so prevalent in that it is prepared and offered for sale in markets. Women in these places consume about 30 g of white dirt per individual, every day.
Over a long period time, scientists have tried to look for an explanation for this cultural practice of white dirt taking but the needs of a woman"s body while pregnant have led to great indications to this adaptive function of white dirt eating. While pregnant, a woman is generally in a period where she encounters a little more nutritional needs than normal and an increased susceptibility. A pregnant woman is vulnerable given that she has a compressed immune system. The immune system is usually suppressed during pregnancy so as to adapt to the existence of a fetus in her body.
An increase in nutritional need is therefore observed especially pertaining to some minerals such as calcium and iron. This is in order to support the growth of the fetus as well as increase the production of blood. Additionally, this the duration when the pregnant person experiences such nutritional necessities comes hand in hand with a couple of difficulties associated with digestion which includes nausea (usually known as morning sickness) as well as vomiting.
Pronounced cravings during pregnancy are another well-known feature. While studying all these features, researchers have postulated that the yearning of the earth-based elements, a practice that is also called geophagy, such as white dirt among women that are pregnant is a representation of a natural need that occurs in a woman during pregnancy. Three reasons as to why women consume the earth-like elements such as white dirt also identified as kaolin clay would thereby be developed. These are;
> the medical value in white dirt is used to give a relief to nausea not to mention vomiting
> the nutritional benefit from the mineral material in white dirt.
> Suppression of harmful toxins by the actions of kaolin clay in the digestive tract.
Many, or essentially most of the nutrients that are needed by our bodies are, basically dirt or just rock. Though we generally consume these minerals in both plant and animal forms, virtually all these plants and animals got the minerals up from the land. Furthermore, a lot of mammalian species take part in earth eating practice in one method or another. A suitable and an obvious example is salt consuming among human beings and salt licking by other animals in an attempt to obtain a range of minerals including calcium, sodium, zinc in addition to phosphorus.
Putting this in mind, the relationship between the mineral deficiencies in our bodies together with the practice of earth eating was among the initial studies to be done. Scientists have thus hypothesized that earth eating is an adaptive habit that is determined by the nutritional requirements which are present in our bodies. This habit has been going on and has become persistent over a very extensive period of time as a survival strategy.
White dirt eating Among Pregnant Women
Expectant women have been possibly the most common human populations who exercise the deliberate ingestion of earth-based components. In sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in some West African countries such as Nigeria as well as some east African nations, white dirt eating is so prevalent in that it is prepared and offered for sale in markets. Women in these places consume about 30 g of white dirt per individual, every day.
Over a long period time, scientists have tried to look for an explanation for this cultural practice of white dirt taking but the needs of a woman"s body while pregnant have led to great indications to this adaptive function of white dirt eating. While pregnant, a woman is generally in a period where she encounters a little more nutritional needs than normal and an increased susceptibility. A pregnant woman is vulnerable given that she has a compressed immune system. The immune system is usually suppressed during pregnancy so as to adapt to the existence of a fetus in her body.
An increase in nutritional need is therefore observed especially pertaining to some minerals such as calcium and iron. This is in order to support the growth of the fetus as well as increase the production of blood. Additionally, this the duration when the pregnant person experiences such nutritional necessities comes hand in hand with a couple of difficulties associated with digestion which includes nausea (usually known as morning sickness) as well as vomiting.
Pronounced cravings during pregnancy are another well-known feature. While studying all these features, researchers have postulated that the yearning of the earth-based elements, a practice that is also called geophagy, such as white dirt among women that are pregnant is a representation of a natural need that occurs in a woman during pregnancy. Three reasons as to why women consume the earth-like elements such as white dirt also identified as kaolin clay would thereby be developed. These are;
> the medical value in white dirt is used to give a relief to nausea not to mention vomiting
> the nutritional benefit from the mineral material in white dirt.
> Suppression of harmful toxins by the actions of kaolin clay in the digestive tract.
Many, or essentially most of the nutrients that are needed by our bodies are, basically dirt or just rock. Though we generally consume these minerals in both plant and animal forms, virtually all these plants and animals got the minerals up from the land. Furthermore, a lot of mammalian species take part in earth eating practice in one method or another. A suitable and an obvious example is salt consuming among human beings and salt licking by other animals in an attempt to obtain a range of minerals including calcium, sodium, zinc in addition to phosphorus.
Putting this in mind, the relationship between the mineral deficiencies in our bodies together with the practice of earth eating was among the initial studies to be done. Scientists have thus hypothesized that earth eating is an adaptive habit that is determined by the nutritional requirements which are present in our bodies. This habit has been going on and has become persistent over a very extensive period of time as a survival strategy.