Ingesting Clay For Detox, Minerals, Etc...

[Somnambulist]

I recently became aware that some people eat clay. Well, they mix it with water and then drink it. They claim very interesting health benefits. One popular one is Azomite, which I first learned of when reading about gardening. It's loaded with minerals and improves crop yields. Then I met someone who EATS the stuff. So I went to the Azomite website and perused the certificate of analysis. Among other things, it contains 11.43% Al2O3 (Alumina or aluminum hydroxide, or aluminum oxide). Also, 6.2ppm lead, 1.1ppm arsenic, and 4ppm uranium. Uranium! Yikes. Is that even safe for a garden? Or is my alarm misplaced. Maybe these are trace amounts that are less than we get from other sources in daily life.

Another one recently recommended to me is TERRAMIN Calcium Montmorillonite Clay Powder. It's much more expensive but also contains lots of Al2O3 (over 18%), and 7ppm lead and 5ppm arsenic.

I bought some bentonite clay at a chemical shop in Chiang Mai which they called "food grade" but it, too contains over 15% Al2O3. A friend of mine showed me how to muscle test it and it failed. So there's my answer for that one, assuming muscle testing is valid.

Does anyone here use clay for detox or supplementation and if so can you shed some light on my questions? I'd love to find an edible clay that lives up to the claims people make but doesn't poison me or cost 50 bucks a pound. Thanks

[jrtmedic]

Why would you want to eat mud(clay)? !

Most of the "detox" products which can be purchased via the "Web" or which are offered as part of a Spa package are very effective ------ at removing large amounts of cash from your wallet !

The claims made for these products have no scientific basis but the quacks who peddle these products have many years of experience in flogging these dubious products to the "worried well", Those who claim to remove environmental "toxins" like mercury are just outrageously dishonest !

There is however medical treatment available for those suffering acute or chronic heavy metal poisoning. This treatment is not without risk . Treatment is usually undertaken within a hospital and must be actively supervised by medical personnel.

Some people may, as a result of illness such as kidney disease, suffer dangerously high levels of serum Potassium ------again this problem can be treated but only by properly qualified and experienced medical staff.

The term "detoxification" is often also used as a euphemism for the treatment of alcohol and or drug dependency. Medically assisted "detoxification" of alcohol or drug dependent individuals is only the first stage of treatment and on its own will do little to alter long term substance abuse. Long term solutions for substance abuse demand behavioural change achieved as a result of (often long term) psychological treatment and support.

Edited October 2, 2012 by jrtmedic

[beammeup]

You can order detox clay from good heath food shops. The point is that they are positively ionized h++ and attract negative ions which are harmful. Heavy metals are negative h-. If you ingest clay it only passes through the digestive tract and not into the blood stream (so they say), so its suppose to be good at removing toxins from your stomach and intestines. Clay is pretty cheap so I don't thing anyone's wallet will get emptied.

[Somnambulist]

You can order detox clay from good heath food shops. The point is that they are positively ionized h++ and attract negative ions which are harmful. Heavy metals are negative h-. If you ingest clay it only passes through the digestive tract and not into the blood stream (so they say), so its suppose to be good at removing toxins from your stomach and intestines. Clay is pretty cheap so I don't thing anyone's wallet will get emptied.

Beemmeup, thank you for your informative answer. It's the kind of info I was hoping for and gives me a direction for further research.

[jrtmedic]

I really must go back to school! WOW would you believe it ! ------Toxins in the stomach and intestines !

I guess one is never to old to learn but in this case I prefer ignorance !

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

you can try activated charcoal capsules also. They are available all over Thailand and not expensive at all. Taking clay is trickier since it has to be mixed with a liquid. The Charcoal capsules are easy and very portable.

Activated charcoal is used to soak up toxins in the case of poisoning at hospitals. Taken in smaller doses its helpful for many.

Just remember to drink more liquids as it can gum a person up a bit when it soaks up toxins etc. It often helps people with digestive issues.

[wpcoe]

A couple fasting cleanses I did included taking Bentonite (clay). It is absolutely foul tasting mixed with just water. However, a 50/50 mixture of apple juice and water was not too bad.

[MisterMan]

how or where can one get clay analysed in Thailand?

[beammeup]

I really must go back to school! WOW would you believe it ! ------Toxins in the stomach and intestines !

I guess one is never to old to learn but in this case I prefer ignorance !

If you had some amalgam fillings removed there is a chance that you may ingest some of the mercury. Thats what got me looking into it. If you know something about toxins in the digestive tract then please share your wisdom. I am no expert but I presume that toxins like some heavy metals would pass into the blood stream and be dispersed around the body. Is there a reason why they wouldn't also be in the stomach and intestines? What about mercury in fish ? say if you just eat some sushi and you eat some clay or charcoal to absorb some of the toxins before they passes into the bloodstream.

[nellyp]

Detox is a myth, I am pretty sure that you can find some thing that can be advised to solve any problems that eating clay can solve, so why worry about eating clay. In fact the only reason I can think of for eating clay is to shit a pot. But then again activated charcoal has been used for years so perhaps I should research before being so flippant. Not sure how you can buy anything labled as clay....as clay for medicine when it will actually be mud that has been processed until they have extracted the chemicals/minerals they need (which you can buy in a chemists)

[rsokolowski]

Whatever happenend to eating a balanced diet, lots of fresh vegetables and fiber? I agree with post #2, all this detox stuff is a rip off designed to separate you from your cash.

[nellyp]

Detox is a myth, I am pretty sure that you can find some thing that can be advised to solve any problems that eating clay can solve, so why worry about eating clay. In fact the only reason I can think of for eating clay is to shit a pot. But then again activated charcoal has been used for years so perhaps I should research before being so flippant. Not sure how you can buy anything labled as clay....as clay for medicine when it will actually be mud that has been processed until they have extracted the chemicals/minerals they need (which you can buy in a chemists)

I have absolutely no idea what the media is at the bottom of my original post. Please don't click on it as i did not put it there

[cheeryble]

Your body's developed over millions of years to be a walking talking detox machine. It never stops.

Edited October 8, 2012 by cheeryble

[jrtmedic]

Ben Goldacre’s wise and witty bestseller, shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, lifts the lid on quack doctors, flaky statistics, scaremongering journalists and evil pharmaceutical corporations.

Since 2003 Dr Ben Goldacre has been exposing dodgy medical data in his popular Guardian column. In this eye-opening book he takes on the MMR hoax and misleading cosmetics ads, acupuncture and homeopathy, vitamins and mankind’s vexed relationship with all manner of ‘toxins’. Along the way, the self-confessed ‘Johnny Ball cum Witchfinder General’ performs a successful detox on a Barbie doll, sees his dead cat become a certified nutritionist and probes the supposed medical qualifications of ‘Dr’ Gillian McKeith.

The book costs about £7 (approx. 350 Bht.) buy it and read it ! You will save a fortune by knowing about all the quacks and charlatans who pray on the ill informed and "worried well"

NB, Ben is a real Doctor ! and the book is entitled "Bad Science"

Edited October 8, 2012 by jrtmedic

[Somnambulist]

I still don't know what to think about clay as a detox, but to those who simply dismiss clay without bothering to look into it, consider french clay (or other suitably researched AND safe clay) as a bacteria healer not a health recommendation, just FYI in case you ever find it necessary to look beyond what your doctor tells you.

"Julius Stumpf, a German physician and scientist who used white clay from Germany to treat a deadly form of Asian cholera; diphtheria; gangrene; ulcers of the tibia (a bone between the knee and foot); and the skin disease eczema. "

"In laboratory tests at ASU's Biodesign Institute, co-PI Haydel, an assistant professor in the School of Life Sciences, showed that one clay killed bacteria responsible for many human illnesses, including: Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), penicillin-resistant S. aureus (PRSA), and pathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli).

It also killed Mycobacterium ulcerans, a germ related to leprosy and tuberculosis that causes the flesh-eating disease Buruli ulcer. This effect was first described in 2002, by Line Brunet de Courssou, a French humanitarian working in the Ivory Coast, Africa, who cured Buruli ulcers with daily applications of French clay she knew from childhood. ."

""Unlike antibiotics, which are essentially a chemical weapon against bacteria, antimicrobial clays kill through purely physical means, he explained. "The bacterium has to come into physical contact with the clay in order for something to happen." Giese said. That contact turns deadly.

"The antimicrobial agents in the clay poke a hole in the cell wall of the bacterium causing the bacterium to leak to death,"

www.sciencedaily.com/.../071025120514.htm \

- (no guarantees it helps, but possibly works for MRSA externally)

another Stumpf reference:

gsa.confex.com/.../abstract_129316.htm

[beammeup]

I tried it twice and didn't like it very much. There are quacks and anti quacks, you just have to research and try to educate yourself I don't think you can argue with the chemistry.