Why do you feel like eating soil? Is this some disease?

Young children are often seen eating pencils made of clay, chalk or slate. But this habit is not limited only to children, older people also have this habit. This is especially seen during pregnancy. There are some women who feel like eating kulhad or soil as soon as they smell the sweet fragrance emanating from the soil when a drop of rain falls. Why does this happen? Is this normal or a sign of some disease? Let us know about this from experts. Nancy Nagpal, consultant gynecologist of Salubritas Medcentre is giving information about this.
Why do you feel like eating soil?
This habit of eating soil is called geophagia in medical term. This is related to an eating disorder called pica. In this, the person feels the urge to eat things which are not fit for eating. In this, the person feels the urge to eat mud chowk as if it is an intoxication. Most of the people believe that this disease of eating mud occurs due to deficiency of calcium (these foods remove calcium deficiency) in women, but this reason alone is not enough. This disease is related to iron deficiency. Doctors say that often pregnant women suffer from iron deficiency due to which they feel like eating chalk, soil, ash, kulhad. However, doing this for a long time can cause many problems. Let us know what harm it can cause.
Eating soil can cause these problems
When you eat soil, your body is unable to absorb iron as well. Clay can also prevent your body from absorbing potassium and zinc. Due to this you may have mineral deficiency.
Soil contains many harmful substances including heavy metals, human waste, which can put you at risk of infection.
There may be a complaint of stomach worms. There may also be problems related to digestion (Yagasana keeps digestion healthy).
Eating too much soil increases the chances of getting stones in your stomach.
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