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American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 21, 1384-1393, Copyright © 1968 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Geophagia in Man: Its Nature and Nutritional Effects

JAMES A. HALSTED M.D.1

1 Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Education, Veterans Administration Hospital, Washington, D. C.: Director and Principal Investigator. Pahlavi Nutrition Research Project, Shiraz, Iran: and Professor of International Health, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C.

In this review the phenomenon of geophagia has been analyzed in terms of its nature, its incidence, its history in medicine, and its clinical effects.

It is pointed out that geophagia leads to iron deficiency. The probable mechanism whereby this occurs is the cation-exchange capacity of clay to inhibit iron absorption. There is suggestive evidence from single case reports that the cation-exchange capacity of clay may also prevent absorption of potassium and mercury. It is speculated that the same mechanism may result in the inhibition of absorption of zinc, leading to zinc deficiency.




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