Edible Clay

Healing with Mother Earth

Today it time to get even more serious about protecting ourselves from the health challenges of tomorrow. We need to have everything on hand at home and in our clinics that we and our patients will need to help them survive the coming world convulsion, which will leave in doubt our access to basic health services and many of the essential medicinals we will need. Personally, I am stocking up on magnesium, iodine, sodium bicarbonate, spirulina and clay and should also be doing so with whole food vitamin C. In addition, every home should have some activated charcoal.

The secret to safe and effective medicine (maintaining or returning to good health) is caught up with the question of how to fix what ails us without suffering from side effects from the medicines we use. There are certain choices we make in life and many of them take us far away from Nature and the basics of life. The earth, though, is literally our mother and has given us part of her in the form of natural medicines to fix what ails us.

The use of clay for both internal and external use puts in our hands the healing power of mother earth and there is little that can compare or compete in the world of medicine. There is no healing system more powerful than that which employs Nature’s primordial substances, materials so pure and close to nature that they yield benefits without the typical side effects of most medicines.

For many of us it is hard to imagine actually eating clay, and few people employ it topically. But the power of its exquisite purity is indispensable in the age of toxicity for there is nothing that has a stronger pulling power on the impurities in the body then clay does. Where I live we have scorpions, and believe me when one of my kids got bitten, clay is the first thing I raced for and it worked quickly to draw the venom out. I have used clay packs on my eyes, sleeping with them through the night bringing soothing relief to the stress they were feeling as I was battling cataracts.

For those suffering from gingivitis or any other infection or decay in the mouth it’s good to know one can pack the clay into the mouth. For instance, many people have used it when they have a toothache, putting a clay pack in their mouth for an hour each day for four days.  Not only does the pain go away, but the infection is drawn out by the clay.

In another essay I will discuss the use of clay externally with special attention paid to using clay in detox and chelation protocols to facilitate removal of mercury and other heavy metals. In this chapter we will talk about starting ones day with a glass of clay. Actually, we don’t eat clay we drink it.

Healing clays, which have been used by indigenous cultures since before recorded history, offer us a wonderful, safe, inexpensive and effective medicine for the 21st Century. On every continent there are people who eat earth. “The Native Americans call it “Ee-Wah-Kee” meaning  “The-Mud-That-Heals”. Bentonite, as well as other types of healing clay, has been used by indigenous cultures since before recorded history, but it’s only now that scientists are gradually beginning to understand what force brings them to do this. It is not only humans who indulge in a bit of clay every now and then.  Parrots, cattle, rats, elephants and chimpanzees also partake.

All health begins and ends in the gastrointestinal tract.
If we cannot properly digest and absorb nutrients from
our food, we set the stage for an imbalanced immune
system and the onset and progression of chronic illness.
Dr. David Brownstein

The pure healing power of the earth evident in living clays creates a better platform for the body to recover from illness because it propels the immune system to health, strengthening the body to a higher point of resistance, something no allopathic medicine achieves. Clay maintains its molecular integrity; it does not break down and assimilate into the body. It maintains a molecular whole as it passes through the body acting like a vacuum cleaner or sponge carrying poisons out of the body. Since clay is not digested and assimilated as it passes through the alimentary canal, the clay and the absorbed positively charged ions are both eliminated together. It also pulls toxins through the skin when applied topically in clay baths.

Clay’s immediate action upon the body is directly on the digestive channel. This involves the clay actually binding with the toxic substances and removing them from the body with the stool. It performs this job with every kind of toxin including those that occur naturally as by-products of the body’s own health processes, such as metabolic toxins.

Our exposure to general chemical toxins in the environment is only getting worse, thus any reasonable and cost effective method that reduces concentrations of toxic metals and other poisonous chemicals in the human body will find great use in the 21st century (the Age of Toxicity). Our world has never been as toxic as it is today and it will be even more toxic next year and the year after that. No one can maintain a totally pure state but we can approach medical treatments with an intelligence that will protect from most harm and disease.

In the 21st century the center of pharmacology needs to be
shifted away from medicines that add to peoples already heavy
toxic burdens to medicines and protocols that reduce these burdens.

Inasmuch as mercury is omnipresent in the environment, as are a host of other chemicals like lead and halogenated hydrocarbons (halocarbons) from the plastic industry, it is virtually impossible for humans to avoid exposure to a growing list of chemicals that are mixing together in our blood streams and cells. Thus there is a need for detoxification protocols that increase daily elimination for healthy people as well as chelation protocols for adults and children who have been devastated with mercury and other chemical poisoning.

The need to eliminate heavy metals and other toxic chemicals
from the body is a life long activity thus it behooves
us to find the most natural and effective way to do that.

Substances that are toxic to our bodies come at us from all directions: the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, the cleaning products we use, and the metabolic waste produced inside us.  Toxin build-up in the body contributes to premature aging and chronic and degenerative diseases. Huge tonnages of pollutants are put into the air every day and the 20 odd tons of mercury are bio-accumulating stressing our physiology to the limit.

Detox and chelation can be made easier, shorter
and more effective with the help and use of clay.

Clay assists the body’s eliminatory process by acting as a bulking agent, similar to psyllium fiber, sweeping out the old matter that doesn’t need to be there.  It is not digested in the same manner as food as it passes through the alimentary canal.  Instead, it stimulates intestinal peristalsis, the muscular contractions that move food and stool through the bowels.  The clay and the adsorbed toxins are both eliminated together. This keeps the toxins from being reabsorbed into the bloodstream, which is a safer way to go about the detoxification process, and is one of the reasons I ingest clay everyday.Many naturopaths recommend ingesting clay on a daily basis to maintain optimal health. Generally, it is suggested that one to two teaspoons  of clay mixed in water be taken  daily. It is recommended to take the clay on an empty stomach first thing in the morning for best results.  If you cannot take it first thing in the morning, at least make sure that it is in on empty stomach. If you’re taking any medication, it is recommended to wait 1-3 hours before ingesting clay, but please check with your physician, as medications vary in time release and content.

Edible Earth is a superior formulation of natural calcium bentonite and montmorillonite clays developed by my good friends at the LL Magnetic Clay Company.[1] Edible Earth is a synergistic blend of the finest healing clays in North America and was formulated for general cleansing, detoxification, and revitalization of the entire digestive tract, in addition to supplying a rich spectrum of 57 bio-available ionic minerals.  It was also nice to see that they are the only company to manufacturer ingestible clay in an amber glass bottle versus plastic.  This is very important to me, as clay is, by its very nature, a highly absorptive material. I do not recommend ingesting clay that has been housed in plastic.

Edible Earth incorporates the finest healing clays, chosen from pristine subsurface sources for their purity and broad health benefits to the user.  In addition, considering clays unique characteristics, it is critical that it be handled in a certain way, so knowing that it is being assembled in a CGMP Certified facility is also an important factor for me.

Edible Earth draws its detoxifying ability from the favorable action that calcium bentonite and montmorillonite clay has upon the GI tract through its absorption and adsorption of various toxins, pathogens, metabolic wastes, and heavy metals.

What are the Benefits of Eating Clay?

*Soothes and Purifies the Digestive Tract
*Remineralizes Cells and Tissues
*Promotes Bacterial Balance in the Colon
*Assists in Heavy Metal and Chemical Detoxification
*Augments Digestive Efficiency
*Supports Nutrient Assimilation in the Gut
*Alkalizes the Body

One of the main ways clay does its work is to draw to itself positive charged molecules, which it holds like a magnet, both internally and externally, until we wash them from our bodies or pass them through our bodies. Calcium Bentonite Clay literally removes the positively charged molecules that attack our bodies, from our bodies. According to an article published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, “Detoxification and Mineral Supplementation As Functions of Geophagy” (Johns and Duguette 1991), clay is a potent detoxifier, a catalyst that assists the body in removal of chemical poisons and heavy metals (positive charged ions) from the body.

Clay is effective for many ailments. It will remove impurities including bacteria, fungi, parasites, chemicals, toxins and even help resolve viral infections.  It has been used extensively in the treatment of pain, open wounds, colitis, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, stomach ulcers, constipation and intestinal problems, acne, anemia, and a variety of other health issues. Just about everything unhealthy, everything impure, is irresistibly attracted to clay and becomes subject to immediate elimination.

Healing clay not only draws toxic material out of the
body if taken internally, but also reduces pain and
infection in open wounds on both humans and animals.

Heavy metal toxicity means big trouble for the GI track, especially in children, and nothing speaks louder about this than then children suffering from autistic spectrum disorders.  Children with weak immune systems tend to have problems with parasites, bacteria, fungus, and viruses that find fertile territory in a body whose defenses are compromised. Finding conditions ripe to live long term in the body, invading pathogens colonize the host and wreck havoc from within. People with chronic diseases have weak immune systems and almost always have digestive system problems including many of these parasites and microbes.

I think it is very hard to mineralize our kids because of their leaky guts.
After treating my son with clay he does not have a leaky gut any more,
but still I can not mineralize him the way he should be, because the mineral
supplements are not in the right form in order to be absorbed by the body.
Andrea Alalama

Dr. Timothy Ray says that during chelation of mercury with DMSA and DMPS (sulfhydryl chelators), “Some of the mobilized metals may be unbound because the mobilizing and binding mechanisms of each chelator may have different degrees of efficiency depending on each patient’s current biochemistry. The longer the metals stay in the bowel, the more damage and inflammation they can cause. If the patient has Leaky Gut Syndrome or Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which most of these patients do, the increased permeability of the intestinal wall may provide little resistance to the re-absorption of these mobilized metals, which then travel back to where they came from – the brain, kidneys, liver, connective tissue, etc., or are deposited into previously healthy tissue.”

The problem with leaky gut and bowel inflammation in general, is that they are very difficult to treat while the metals are still present in that tissue and continuing to cause inflammation. Mercury is known to create antibiotic resistant bacteria, the plasmid responsible also being replicated and passed on to other bacteria. The presence of mercury in the bowel could therefore contribute to the severity and duration of intestinal infections.”[2] In my opinion, safe, clean edible clay to intestinal health is like the cavalry arriving on the scene just in the nick of time.

I have asked the people at LL’s Magnetic Clay if they would extend a special discount on the Edible Earth product for my IMVA people.  They have agreed to a hefty 25% discount until March 1st.  You simply need to use the code, “edibleearthimva” in the section that asks for a promotional code. By the time one ingests two pound (one bottle) one will have completely changed, cleaned and healed their digestive tract and have drawn off a great percentage of the body’s toxic load.

For those, who after reading about eating clay are still squeamish about eating earth, know that the experience is nothing like what one might expect. Pure clay actually tastes clean and goes down quite easily yielding a pleasant experience. We get the immediate feeling that we are doing something extremely positive for our health.

Special Note: So important is clay I promise to put up a site on its use in the next few months. Clay is a friend like the earth is our mother. Those who learn to appreciate Nature are healthier and happier in my experience. When it comes to the practice of medicine it behooves us to employ Nature whenever we can. Clay is something we can recommend to our patients with the upmost security that it will do the job we intend it to do.