In our recent review of geophagy among 136 species of non-human primates, we found evidence that geophagy could be a very important strategy to adapt to the many and increasing stressors that primates in the wild experience.
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Geophagy is trendy, but it sure isn't new; descriptions of cravings for earth date back 2,000 years.
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Known as "geophagy," this takes the familiar form of salt licking in large ungulates like cows and deer.
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The causes of this more innocuous form of pica, geophagy, have remained an enigma since Hippocrates first documented it.
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Understanding the causes and consequences of geophagy could lead to important insights into keeping many humans and animals healthy.
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But a geophagy contract was made and must be enforced: one teaspoonful of dirt goes into your lying stomach by way of mouth.
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" Officially called geophagy, Merriam-Webster defines "the practice of eating earthy substances (as clay)" as a practice performed by humans to "augment a scanty or mineral-deficient diet or as part of a cultural tradition.
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Geophagy was attributed to feelings of misery, homesickness, depression, and alienation.
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Geophagy, the eating of earthen materials like clay, can be another form of pica that is more commonly observed than osteophagy.
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Earths and clays may have provided prehistoric peoples with some of their first medicines. This is related to geophagy, which is extremely widespread among animals in the wild as well as among domesticated animals. In particular, geophagy is widespread among contemporary non-human primates. Also, early humans could have learned about the use of various healing clays by observing animal behaviour.
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Yellow-tailed woolly monkeys participate in geophagy, the consumption of soil. Geophagy is a rare biological behavior, but the species benefits since it results in trace mineral intake of minerals and reduction of intestinal parasites; they tend to suffer from an iron-deficient diet. Their consumption of soil allows them to intake iron that they do not get from their regular diet.
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The consumption of flowers, as well as soil (geophagy), was rarely observed in this study. Prior to this, preliminary studies had reported that folivory accounted for 75% of the diet, while fruits and 15% was seed predation, 7% was flower consumption, and bark and soil made up the remainder. Silky sifakas are known to occasionally eat soil (geophagy). Although arboreal, silky sifakas sometimes play on the ground.
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Many animals eat soil or clay, a behaviour known as geophagy. Clay is the primary ingredient of kaolin. It has been proposed that for primates, there are four hypotheses relating to geophagy in alleviating gastrointestinal disorders or upsets: # soils adsorb toxins such as phenolics and secondary metabolites # soil ingestion has an antacid action and adjusts the gut pH # soils act as an antidiarrhoeal agent # soils counteract the effects of endoparasites. Furthermore, two hypotheses pertain to geophagy in supplementing minerals and elements: Tapirs, forest elephants, colobus monkeys, mountain gorillas and chimpanzees seek out and eat clay, which absorbs intestinal bacteria and their toxins and alleviates stomach upset and diarrhoea.
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This habit of eating clay is also known as geophagy. Human geophagy may be related to pica, a classified eating disorder in the DSM-IV characterized by abnormal cravings for nonfood items.Pica Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders Many people from various countries across the world have the habit, although most of the countries that have the habit of eating clay never admit it. NEWS & FEATURES / HEALTH CONCERN - ARTIKEL - Kompas.
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They will also feed on other plant parts such as leaves, flowers, and bulbs, and will very rarely consume small insects. A. belzebuth has also been observed engaging in geophagy.
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They are also know to construct shelter tents by severing leaves and stems from certain creepers and mast trees like Polyalthia longifolia. Frugivory, nectarivory, and folivory are well understood; in addition, geophagy behaviour has also been reported in this species recently, and is suggested to represent an ‘adaptive behavioural plasticity’ in the foraging behaviour of the greater short-nosed fruit bat. According to Mahandran et al. geophagy have the function of mineral supplementation and/or detoxification.
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There are obvious risks in the consumption of ampo and clay that is contaminated by animal or human feces; in particular, parasite eggs, such as roundworms, that can stay dormant for years, can present a problem. Tetanus poses a further risk. Nevertheless, these risks are generally well understood by most tribal populations that engage in geophagy, hence 'clean' earth from below the surface level is sought out. Children's predilection to engage in geophagy makes them more susceptible to worm infestations.
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Such clay is used both internally and externally, such as for treating wounds, and after surgery (see below). Geophagy, and the external use of clay are both still quite widespread among aboriginal peoples around the world, as well as among pre-industrial populations.
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Ampo is revered by the native women who are pregnant.Peter Abrahams, Human Geophagy: A Review of Its Distribution, Causes, and Implications. in H. Catherine W. Skinner, Antony R. Berger, Geology and health: closing the gap. Oxford University Press US, 2003, p. 33.
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Soil consumption (geophagy) has also been reported and likely helps with digestion, provides minerals and salts, and helps absorb toxins. Sifakas have been observed eating soil from termite mounds, possibly adding beneficial intestinal flora to aid the digestion of cellulose from their folivorous diet.
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The common brown lemur's diet consists primarily of fruits, young leaves, and flowers. In some locations it eats invertebrates, such as cicadas, spiders and millipedes. It also eats bark, sap, soil and red clay (see geophagy). It can tolerate greater levels of toxic compounds from plants than other lemurs can.
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Humans sometimes eat kaolin for health or to suppress hunger, a practice known as geophagy. Consumption is greater among women, especially during pregnancy. This practice has also been observed within a small population of African- American women in the Southern United States, especially Georgia. There, the kaolin is called white dirt, chalk, or white clay.
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German medicinal clay (Luvos Heilerde) consisting of loess, i.e., a mixture of sand, clay, and silt The use of medicinal clay in folk medicine goes back to prehistoric times. Indigenous peoples around the world still use clay widely, which is related to geophagy. The first recorded use of medicinal clay goes back to ancient Mesopotamia.
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Schistosomes and nematodes such as hookworms (Ancylostoma and Necator) and Strongyloides can penetrate the skin directly. Finally, Wuchereria, Onchocerca, and Dracunculus are transmitted by mosquitoes and flies. In the developing world, the use of contaminated water is a major risk factor for infection. Infection can also take place through the practice of geophagy, which is not uncommon in parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
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Some animals ingest large amounts of poisons in their food, but then eat clay or other minerals, which neutralize the poisons. This behavior is known as geophagy. Plant defense may explain, in part, why herbivores employ different life history strategies. Monophagous species (animals that eat plants from a single genus) must produce specialized enzymes to detoxify their food, or develop specialized structures to deal with sequestered chemicals.
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In 1829 he published an influential work on physical and psychological anthropology titled Grundriß der physischen und psychischen Anthropologie. Among his other writings was a German translation of François Magendie's (1783-1855) Précis élémentaire de physiologie, and letters of correspondence with naturalist Charles Darwin. He also wrote a remarkable review of geophagy, titled Die sogenannte Geophagie oder tropische (besser: Malaria-) Chlorose als Krankheit aller Länder und Klimate.
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The African olive pigeon feeds on fruit and berries, mainly picked in the canopy, but it will also descend for fallen fruit and take some insects and caterpillars. In the south of its range, it favours the fruit of a highly invasive plant, the bugweed, Solanum mauritianum. Birds fly considerable distances from their roosts to feeding areas, and young or nonbreeding birds form flocks. Geophagy has been observed in this species.
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They have been known to engage in geophagy, the process of eating clay to detoxify their food. These birds produce a very fine powder to waterproof themselves instead of oil as many other birds do. The sulphur-crested cockatoo is a seasonal breeder in Australia; little is known about its breeding behaviour in New Guinea. In southern Australia the breeding season is from August to January, whereas in northern Australia the season is from May to September.
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It is common at feeders in the Southwest United States and will come almost anywhere with thistle sock feeders. Flocks of at least six birds will often be seen at feeders. It feeds mostly on tree buds and weed seeds; geophagy has been observed in this species.Delgado-V. (2006) The nesting season is in summer in the temperate parts of its range; in the tropics it apparently breeds all-year round, perhaps less often in September and October.
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The leaf and stem material of Borassodendron borneensis appears to be an important food source during low fruit abundance. Other food items consumed by the apes include bark, honey, bird eggs, insects and small vertebrates including the slow loris. In some areas, orangutans may practice geophagy, which involves consuming soil and other earth substances. The apes may eat tubes of soil created by termites along tree trunks as well as descend to the ground to uproot soil to eat.
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A light hookworm infection causes abdominal pain, loss of appetite, and geophagy. Heavy infection causes severe protein deficiency or iron-deficiency anemia. Protein deficiency may lead to dry skin, edema, and abdominal extension from edema (potbelly), while iron-deficiency anemia might result in mental dullness and heart failure. Women who are pregnant and infected should be aware that this parasite is able to infect the fetus and can cause complications such as low birth weight, maternal anemia, and infant mortality.
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In addition to Africa, termites are consumed in local or tribal areas in Asia and North and South America. In Australia, Indigenous Australians are aware that termites are edible but do not consume them even in times of scarcity; there are few explanations as to why. Termite mounds are the main sources of soil consumption (geophagy) in many countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Researchers have suggested that termites are suitable candidates for human consumption and space agriculture, as they are high in protein and can be used to convert inedible waste to consumable products for humans.
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However, wide areas of peat production, such as rain-fed sphagnum bogs, also called blanket bogs or raised bogs, are now protected because of their patrimonial interest. As an example, Flow Country, covering 4,000 square kilometres of rolling expanse of blanket bogs in Scotland, is now candidate for being included in the World Heritage List. Under present-day global warming peat soils are thought to be involved in a self-reinforcing (positive feedback) process of increased emission of greenhouse gases (methane and carbon dioxide) and increased temperature, a contention which is still under debate when replaced at field scale and including stimulated plant growth.. Geophagy is the practice of eating soil-like substances. Both animals and humans occasionally consume soil for medicinal, recreational, or religious purposes.
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