Eat clay? Really? Yes really. But not any clay. This is not a recommendation to dig in the yard and make a "muddy soup" for lunch. Instead, it is a natural clay called "bentonite". It is increasingly used by practitioners of alternative medicine for effective in-house cleansing and detoxification.
The consumption of clay for digestive health, removal of toxins and antibacterial properties is nothing new. In fact, the tribal tribes practiced for centuries. Even animals were instinctively attracted by clay, they were spotted licking them as part of a daily diet.
What is bentonite clay?
Bentonite is a commercial name for the active mineral "montmorillonite". Although the healing clay was first identified in Montmorillon, France, the highest concentrations of bentonite are found in North America, in the Great Plains area. The name "bentonite" refers to Fort Benton, Wyoming, where it is discovered in cretaceous rocks.
It is a clay consisting of tiny platelets that have both negative and positive electrical charges. When exposed to fluid, the platelets are swollen and open like tiny sponges. Open spaces attract toxins with electric attraction and bind them.
The health benefits of bentonite cleansing of the colon
Taken internally, bentonite clay is inert, which means it is not digestible, but passes through the body, carrying toxins bound inside it. According to Canadian Journal of Microbiology, bentonite has the ability to absorb pathogenic viruses along with pesticides and herbicides. It also absorbs heavy metals and other impurities.
As an internal cleansing agent, bentonite clay pushes old waste material into the colon. This allows the body to digest food better to absorb and utilize nutrients. This leads to improved pitch, increased energy and vitality, and less problems with gas and acidity problems.
Detoxification strengthens the immune system. A large part of the immune system of the organism is directed towards the intestines to fight against the continuous bombardment of toxins and diseases to organisms. The old waste that accumulates results in foods that literally compost in the intestines that require significantly increased energy from the immune system. Occasionally cleaning the body of the old, constructed waste reduces the necessary energy and immunity.
Promising advantages of bentonite clay
Researchers from the state of Arizona, in a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, tested different clays from around the world to study their antibacterial activity. They discovered clay from Nevada, Oregon and France that has the ability to kill methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. It's an antibiotic-resistant infection that is potentially fatal. This is becoming increasingly common and worrying for health service providers. Bentonite clay may prove to be an effective treatment if the results are effective in human tests.
Clay has been shown to be effective in killing E. coli cells that cause food poisoning. It has also been shown to destroy cells of pseudomonas aeruginosa that cause gastrointestinal and urinary infections.
Eating this special "dirt" can be very useful for your health. It is used periodically, maintains the health of the digestive tract, maximizes nutrient absorption, detoxifies and can even protect against dangerous bacteria and pathogenic viruses.