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Eating dirt while pregnant2/18/2024 There are positive and negative effects of eating soil, she said. “Eating soil is not that dangerous nor harmful unless if it’s taken from a dangerous or dirty place,” said Sister Ntswaki Moletsane. She said the media also had a role to play by informing communities of the dangers of eating soil, and explaining the need for soil addicts to seek treatment for the iron and mineral deficiencies that are the cause of their habit.Įating soil is also common in the Free State where health practitioners don’t recommend the practice but recognise that it is happening. If there was a rehab centre for people who eat soil, I would be the first one to attend it,” Dlamini said.ĭr Masuku said more doctors should question their patients on possible soil eating habits, so they could be diagnosed and treated. I often struggle when I go to the toilet and feel like I cannot continue life like this. It has been 10 years now and I have been admitted in hospital with gastritis more than three times. “I do agree that I am an addict, because I started eating soil when I was 18 years after seeing my sister do it. Women need to be told that what they eat can present a danger,” said Dr Masuku.Īnother soil addict, Ayanda Dlamini (28) of Botha’s Hill, said she would sometimes travel six or seven kilometres from home to dig up bags of soil to eat because the sand in her neighbourhood tasted bad. There are various problems that ingesting soil can cause the human body by disturbing bowel movements or even causing a bowel obstruction. “Soil is a foreign material carrying lot of dirt and harmful agents such as worms, animal faeces and fungi. If there was a rehab centre for people who eat soil, I would be the first one to attend it. She also suggested that women with soil cravings eat a lot of beetroot and liver because these foods carried a high iron content. She said women who ate soil should tell their doctors about their cravings so that a proper check could be done ascertain the cause, and to prescribe supplements such as iron, magnesium or zinc tablets where necessary. However they could develop a worm infestation or other parasitic and bacterial infections by eating dirt, she warned. She said many women developed iron deficiencies during pregnancy and would start eating soil as a result. While eating soil has become commonly viewed as a harmless practice, KwaZulu-Natal general practitioner Dr Lungi Masuku warned that it was a symptom of anaemia – an iron shortage that needed to be treated and that women who ate soil faced the risk of ingesting material that could be harmful. She said she believed that as long as her ordinary diet remained healthy, she exercised regularly and drank lots of water to flush the dirt from her system she believed she was not doing any harm. She said eating soil had become an addiction for her and now, five years on, she sees nothing wrong with what she is doing and has no intention of trying to break the habit. Especially when I’ve just finished eating food, I need my soil just to complete my meal. I liked the way it melted on my mouth and from then on I couldn’t stop. So I started joining them and I saw my stress easing and my energy coming back,” explained Mkhize. These were worries for me at the time, as I didn’t have much appetite. When I asked them why they were eating dirt, they told me it soothed their morning sickness, boosted their appetite and relieved stress. “I would see a lot of pregnant women coming out of clinic, taking packets of soil from their hand bags and eating it. Some said they started eating soil in their teenage years, while others said they started only after they fell pregnant.īuhle Mkhize (33) of KwaNyuswa west of Durban, said she started eating soil five years ago when she was pregnant with her second son. Health-e spoke to several women about their soil eating habits, known as geophagia, confirming that for many the desire to eat soil can be a stressful addiction. The addiction to soil is said to be a health issue triggered by iron and mineral deficiencies, and it can be treated. And the sellers of packeted soil say their customers “go crazy” without it – getting depressed or angry when stocks run out. The craving for clay is found particularly among pregnant and lactating women, but eating clay is a widespread practice in South Africa and neighbouring countries.
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