A vile habit?: The potential biological consequences of geophagia, with special attention to Iron

Consuming the Inedible: Neglected Dimensions of Food Choice

Volumn 6, Issue , 2007, Pages 67-79

  Young, Sera L ^a  

^a Department of Obstetrics Gynecology   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 80053299222     PISSN: None     EISSN: None     Source Type: Book    
DOI: None     Document Type: Chapter

References (85)

1. Anell, B. and Lagercrantz, S. (1958) Geophagical Customs. Almquist and Wiksells Boktryckeri, Uppsala
2. Anonymous (1897) The clay eaters. Scientific American, 76:150
3. Arcasoy, A., Cavdar, A.O. and Babacan, E. (1978) Decreased iron and zinc absorption in Turkish children with iron deficiency and geophagia. Acta Haematologica, 60:76-84
4. Bateson, E.M. and Lebroy, T. (1978) Clay eating by Aboriginals of the Northern Territory. The Medical Journal of Australia, 1, Supplement 1:1-3
5. Brown, D.D., Juhl, R.P., Lewis, K., Schrott, M. and Bartels, B. (1976) Decreased bioavailability of digoxin due to antacids and kaolin-pectin. New England Journal of Medicine, 295:1034-1037
6. Caius, J.F. and Chapgar, S.K. (1933) Earth-eating and salt-licking in India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 37:455-459
7. Callahan, G. (2003) Eating dirt. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 9:1016-1021
8. Campbell, L., Dixon, D.G. and Hecky, R.E. (2003) A review of mercury in Lake Victoria, East Africa: implications for human and ecosystem health. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health. Part B, Critical Reviews, 6:325-356
9. Cavdar, A.O., Arcasoy, A., Cin, S. and Gumus, H. (1980) Zinc deficiency in geophagia in Turkish children and response to treatment with zinc sulphate. Haematologica, 65:403-408
10. Cavdar, A.O., Arcasoy, A., Cin, S., Babacan, E. and Gozdasoglu, S. (1983) Geophagia in Turkey: iron and zinc absorption studies and response to treatment with zinc in geophagia cases. In Prasad, A., Cavdar, A.O., Brewer, G. and Aggett, P. (eds) Zinc Deficiency in Human Subjects: Proceedings of an International Symposium held in Ankara,Turkey, April 29-30, 1982, Alan R. Liss, Inc, New York, 71-97
11. Courbon, B., Boulloche, J. and Mallet, E. (1987) Plaster geophagia in an immigrant Maugrabin child. Archives Françaises de Pédiatrie, 44:145
12. Cragin, F.W. (1835) Observations on cachexia africana or dirt-eating. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, 17:356-364
13. De Sola Pool, N., Loehle, K., Radzik, A.J. and Kinsley, J. (1987) A comparison of nonsytemic and systemic antidiarrheal agents in the treatment of acute nonspecific diarrhea in adults. Today's Therapeutic Trends, 5:31-38
14. Ditter, B., Urbaschek, R. and Urbaschek, B. (1983) Ability of various adsorbents to bind endotoxins in vitro and to prevent orally induced endotoxemia in mice. Gastroenterology, 84:1547-1552
15. Dominy, N.J., Davoust, E. and Minekus, M. (2004) Adaptive function of soil consumption: an in vitro study modelling the human stomach and small intestine. Journal of Experimental Biology, 207:319-324
16. Dornai, D., Mingelgrin, U., Frenkel, H. and Bar-Jospeh, M. (1993) Direct quantification of unadsorbed viruses in suspensions of adsorbing colloids with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 59:3123-3125
17. Dupont, C., Moreno, J.L., Barau, E., Bargaoui, K., Thiane, E. and Plique, O. (1992) Effect of diosmectite on intestinal permeability changes in acute diarrhea: a doubleblind placebo-controlled trial. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 14:413-419
18. Fuortes, L., Weisman, D., Niebyl, J., Gergely, R. and Reynolds, S. (1996) Pregnancy, pica, pottery and Pb (lead). Journal of the American College of Toxicology, 15:445-450
19. Gardiner, K.R., Anderson, N.H., McCaigue, M.D., Erwin, P.J., Halliday, M.I. and Rowlands, B.J. (1993) Adsorbents as antiendotoxin agents in experimental colitis. Gut, 34:51-55
20. Garg, M., Shaver, M.J. and Easom, A. (2004) Pica. An underappreciated cause of electrolyte abnormalities. Nephrology News Issues, 18:28-9, 33
21. Geissler, P., Mwaniki, D., Thiong, F. and Friis, H. (1998) Geophagy as a risk factor for geohelminth infections: a longitudinal study of Kenyan primary school children. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 92:7-11
22. Gelfand, M. (1945) Geophagy and its relation to hookworm disease. East African Medical Journal, 22:98-103
23. Georgette, K. and Francis, T. (2003) A Study of the Hydrochloric acid (HCL) Extractable Mineral Components of a Clay Substance Eaten in Ghana (unpublished manuscript) Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Ghana
24. Gilardi, J.D., Duffey, S.S., Munn, C.A. and Tell, L.A. (1999) Biochemical functions of geophagy in parrots: detoxification of dietary toxins and cytoprotective effects. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 25:897-922
25. Glickman, L.T., Camara, A.O., Glickman, N.W. and McCabe, G.P. (1999) Nematode intestinal parasites of children in rural Guinea, Africa: Prevalence and relationship to geophagia. International Journal of Epidemiology, 28:169-174
26. Gonzalez, J.J., Owens, W., Ungaro, P.C., Werk, E.E. and Wentz, P.W. (1982) Clay ingestion: a rare cause of hypokalemia. Annals of Internal Medicine, 97:65-66
27. Guarino, A., Bisceglia, M., Castellucci, G., Iacono, G., Casali, L.G., Bruzzese, E., Musetta, A. and Greco, L. (2001) Smectite in the treatment of acute diarrhea: A nationwide randomized controlled study of the Italian Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology (SIGEP) in collaboration with primary care pediatricians. SIGEP study group for smectite in acute diarrhea. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 32:71-75
28. Halsted, J.A. (1968) Geophagia in man: Its nature and nutritional effects. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 21:1384-1393
29. Hertz, H. (1947) Notes on clay and starch eating among negroes in a southern urban community. Social Forces, 25:343-344
30. Hooda, P.S., Henry, C.J., Seyoum, T.A., Armstrong, L.D. and Fowler, M.B. (2004) The potential impact of soil ingestion on human mineral nutrition. The Science of the Total Environment, 333:75-87
31. Houston, D., Gilardi, J. and Hall, J. (2001) Soil consumption by elephants might help to minimize the toxic effects of plant secondary compounds in forest browse. Mammal Review, 31:249-254
32. Hunter, J.M., Horst, O.H. and Thomas, R.N. (1989) Religious geophagy as a cottage industry: The Holy Clay Tablet of Esquipulas, Guatemala. National Geographic Research, 5:281-295
33. Hussey, H.H. (1975) Geophagia-induced hyperkalemia. Journal of the American Medical Association, 234:746
34. Johns, T. (1996) The Origins of Human Diet and Medicine. University of Arizona Press, Tucson
35. Johns, T. and Duquette, M. (1991) Detoxification and mineral supplementation as functions of geophagy. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 53:448-456
36. Key, T.J., Horger, E.R. and Miller, J.J. (1982) Geophagia as a cause of maternal death. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 60:525-526
37. Lavie, S. and Stotzky, G. (1986b) Adhesion of the clay minerals montmorillonite, kaolinite, and attapulgite reduces respiration of histoplama capsulatum. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 51:65-73
38. Lavie, S. and Stotzky, G. (1986a) Interactions between clay minerals and siderophores affect the respiration of histoplasma capsulatum. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 51:74-79
39. Leber, W. (1988) A new suspension form of smectite (liquid 'diasorb') for the treatment of acute diarrhoea: A randomized comparative study. Pharmatherapeutica, 5:256-260
40. Leonard, A., Droy-Lefaix, M.T. and Allen, A. (1994) Pepsin hydrolysis of the adherent mucus barrier and subsequent gastric mucosal damage in the rat: Effect of diosmectite and 16,16 dimethyl prostaglandin E2. Gastroentérologie Clinique et Biologique, 18:609-616
41. Lipson, S.M. and Stotzky, G. (1983) Adsorption of reovirus to clay minerals: Effects of cation-exchange capacity, cation saturation, and surface area. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 46:673-682
42. Livingstone, D. (1874) The Last Journals of David Livingstone in Central Africa from 1865 to his Death. London
43. Luoba, A., Geissler, P.W., Estambale, B., Ouma, J., Alusala, D., Ayah, R., Mwaniki, D., Magnussen, P. and Friis, H. (2005) Earth-eating and reinfection with intestinal helminths among pregnant and lactating women in Western Kenya. Tropical Medicine and International Health, 10:220-227
44. Madkour, A.A., Madina, E.M., El-Azzouni, O.E., Amer, M.A., El-Walili, T.M. and Abbass, T. (1993) Smectite in acute diarrhea in children: a double-blind placebocontrolled clinical trial. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 17:176-181
45. Mahaney, W.C., Hancock, R.G.V. and Inque, M. (1993) Geochemistry and clay mineralogy of soils eaten by Japanese macaques. Primates, 34:85-91
46. Mahaney, W.C., Milner, M.W., Hs, M., Hancock, R.G.V., Aufreiter, S., Reich, M. and Wink, M. (2000) Mineral and chemical analyses of soils eaten by humans in Indonesia. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 10:93-109
47. Mahraoui, L., Heyman, M., Plique, O., Droy-Lefaix, M.T. and Desjeux, J.F. (1997) Apical effect of diosmectite on damage to the intestinal barrier induced by basal tumour necrosis factor-alpha. Gut, 40:339-343
48. Maigetter, R.Z. and Pfister, R.M. (1975) A mixed bacterial population in a continuous culture with and without kaolinite. Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 21:173-180
49. Mcginity, J. and Hill, J. (1975) Influence of monovalent and divalent electrolytes on sorption of neomycin sulfate to attapulgite and montmorillonite clays. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 64:1566-1568
50. Minnich, V., Okcuoglu, A., Tarcon, Y., Arcasoy, A., Cin, S., Yorukoglu, O., Renda, F. and Demirag, B. (1968) Pica in Turkey II: effect of clay upon iron absorption. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 21:78-86
51. Moré, J., Benazet, F., Fioramonti, J. and Droy-Lefaix, M.T. (1987) Effects of treatment with smectite on gastric and intestinal glycoproteins in the rat: a histochemical study. Histochemical Journal, 19:665-670
52. Moustafa, M.A., Al-Shora, H.I., Gaber, M. and Gouda, M.W. (1987) Decreased bioavailability of quinidine sulphate due to interactions with adsorbent antacids and antidiarrhoeal mixtures. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 34:207-211
53. Murty, T.V., Rao, N.N. and Bopardikar, K.V. (1976) Geophagia with mechanical obstructive symptoms. Indian Pediatrics, 13:575-576
54. Narkeviciute, I., Rudzeviciene, O., Leviniene, G., Mociskiene, K. and Eidukevicius, R. (2002) Management of Lithuanian children's acute diarrhoea with gastrolit solution and dioctahedral smectite. European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 14:419-424
55. Nesse, R.M. and Williams, G.C. (1996) Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine. Vintage, New York
56. O'Rourke, D.E., Quinn, J.G., Nicholson, J.O. and Gibson, H.H. (1967) Geophagia during pregnancy. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 29:581-584
57. Oates, J.F. (1978) Water-plant and soil consumption by Guereza monkeys (Colobus guereza) A relationship with minerals and toxins in the diet? Biotropica, 10:241-253
58. Oke, O.L. (1972) Rickets in developing countries. World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics, 15:86-103
59. Philips, T.D., Clement, B.A., Kubena, L.F. and Harvey, R.B. (1990) Detection and detoxification of aflatoxins: prevention of aflatoxicosis and aflatoxin residues with hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate. Veterinary and Human Toxicology, 32S:15-19
60. Prasad, A., Halsted, J.A. and Nadimi, M. (1983) Nutrition classics. syndrome of iron deficiency anaemia, hepatosplenomegaly, hypogonadism, dwarfism, and geophagia. Nutrition Reviews, 41:220-223
61. Profet, M. (1992) Pregnancy Sickness as Adaptation: A Deterrent to Maternal Ingestion of Teratogens. In Barkow, J.H., Cosmides, L. and Tooby, J. (eds) The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture, Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford, 327-366
62. Ratledge, C. and Dover, L.G. (2000) Iron metabolism in pathogenic bacteria. Annual Review of Microbiology, 54:881-941
63. Reid, R.M. (1992) Cultural and medical perspectives on geophagia. Medical Anthropology, 13:337-351
64. Rey, C. (1989) Rotavirus viral diarrhoea: The advantages of smectite. International Review of Pediatrics, 196:1-4
65. Robinson, B.A., Tolan, W. and Golding-Beecher, O. (1990) Childhood pica. Some aspects of the clinical profile in Manchester, Jamaica. West Indian Medical Journal, 39:20-26
66. Rogers, M.E. (1972) Practice of Pica among Iron Deficient Pregnant Women. Ph.D. Thesis, Auburn University
67. Saathoff, E., Olsen, A., Kvalsvig, J.D. and Geissler, P.W. (2002) Geophagy and its association with Geohelminth infection in rural schoolchildren from Northern Kwa Zulu-Natal, South Africa. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 96:485-490
68. Said, S.A., Shibl, A.M. and Abdullah, M.E. (1980) Influence of various agents on adsorption capacity of kaolin for Pseudomonas Aeruginosa toxin. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 69:1238-1239
69. Severance, H.W., Holt, T., Patrone, N.A. and Chapman, L. (1988) Profound muscle weakness and hypokalemia due to clay ingestion. Southern Medical Journal, 81:272-274
70. Shannon, M. (2003) Severe lead poisoning in pregnancy. Ambulatory Pediatrics, 3:37-39
71. Smith, B., Chenery, S.R.N., Cook, J.M., Styles, M.T., Tiberindwa, J.V., Hampton, C., Freers, J., Rutakinggirwa, M., Sserunjogi, L., Tokins, A. and Brown, C.J. (1998) Geochemical and environmental factors controlling exposure to cerium and magnesium in Uganda. Journal of Geochmical Exploration, 65:1-15
72. Smith, T. and Carson, M. (1984) Effect of diet on T-2 toxicosis. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 177:153-167
73. Talkington, K.M., Gant, N.F., Scott, D.E. and Pritchard, J.A. (1970) Effect of ingestion of starch and some clays on iron absorption. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 108:262-267
74. Tsakala, M., Tona, L., Tamba, V., Mawanda, B., Vielvoye, L., Dufey, J. and Gillard, J. (1990) In vitro study of the adsorption of chloroquine by an antidiarrheal remedy traditionally used in Africa. Journal de Pharmacie de Belgique, 45:268-273
75. Vega-Franco, L., Velasco-Sanchez, F. and Perez, J.E. (1982) Effect of the administration of adsorbents on the bacterial flora of the rat intestine. Boletín Médico del Hospital Infantil de México, 39:259-263
76. Vermeer, D.E. (1966) Geophagy among the Tiv of Nigeria. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 56:197-204
77. Vermeer, D.E. (1971) Geophagy among the Ewe of Ghana. Ethnology, 10:56-72
78. Voros, J., Mahaney, W.C., Milner, M.W., Krishnamani, R., Aufreiter, S. and Hancock, R.G.V. (2001) Geophagy by the bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata) of Southern India: a preliminary analysis. Primates, 42:327-344
79. Wai, K.N. and Banker, G.S. (1966) Some physicochemical properties of the montmorillonites. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 55:1215-1220
80. Wedeen, R.P., Mallik, D.K., Batuman, V. and Bogden, J.D. (1978) Geophagic lead nephropathy: case report. Environmental Research, 17:409-415
81. Wilson, M.J. (2003) Clay mineralogical and related characteristics of geophagic materials. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 29:1525-1547
82. Wong, M.S., Bundy, D.A. and Golden, M.H. (1991) The rate of ingestion of ascaris lumbricoides and trichuris trichiura eggs in soil and its relationship to infection in two children's homes in Jamaica. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 85:89-91
83. Woywodt, A. and Kiss, A. (2002) Geophagia: The history of earth-eating. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 95:143-146
84. Ye, D., Kam, K., Sanou, F., Traore, S.S., Kambou, S., Yonaba, C., Dao, F. and Sawadogo, A. (2004) Intestinal obstruction and geophagia in a 14-year-old child. Archives de Pédiatrie, 11:461-462
85. Young, S.L. and Pelto, G.H. (2006) Core Concepts in Nutritional Anthropology. In Temple, N.J., Wilson, T. and Jacobs, D.R. (eds) Nutritional Health: Strategies for Disease Prevention. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ, 425-437