An article from 1901 about folks in St. Louis who ate a spoonful of dirt daily to stay healthy. What do you eat/drink to stay healthy? One hundred years later, what has replaced dirt? (And... might they have a point?)
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Eating dirt ... Who would have figured. But isn't this just a twist on how religion, or even region could play out. I mean let's say your from the Central Americas region your more likely to do things somewhat different than someone in Europe. Even a Muslim has different beliefs than a Catholic, but does it really keep you healthy? Who knows every culture has their own "way" or belief on what is healthy or some sort of remedy on how to heal, and for the most part it works where I have seen in my culture. We use to drink Atole when we got sick or a cold, even a stomach virus; it was the cure all drink. That goes back to beliefs kind of and even if its not proven, well it makes you feel in place doing it for the sake of your culture or what you believe.
ReplyDeleteIt's humorous that even a hundred years ago people wanted quick fixes to bodily ailments. Although the "miracle cures" chosen were not quite as pristine and rare as they are today, people still chose some sort of "fix", even if in the form of dirt, rather than actually "fixing" the source of the problem. Today we do shots of concentrated, pureed super-fruits bolstered with fiber and six-million live and active probiotic cultures so that the frappuccinos will go down without a hitch. Nothing else besides the consumption of dirt was mentioned in the article, but I gather that the "rotund" figure of the "head dirt-eater" suffered under a poor diet.
ReplyDeleteNow, I am not a perfectly-balanced eater, but if eating a plate of fries makes me nauseous afterwards, I would (and have) change my eating habits and drink a cup of ginger or peppermint tea before swallowing a spoonful of dirt.
Daniel Sarta
ReplyDeleteIdk this seems kinda of strange to me. It's strange to me that this would be appoached as a religous ceremoney. They realy belive this is going to help there stomachs, but why? I mean they gave some reasons but the reasons seemed very incuclusive as if they wernt given much thought. The worst part to me is that people were actualy paying for this dirt to eat, 25 cents may not seem like alot now, but it was alot more back in 1901. I think its a scam personaly.
Well they say an apple a day keeps the doctor away! Not sure how true that is but its a start. Eating dirt doesnt strike me as that odd. I know that different animals, birds imparticular, eat grit ( little pebbles, sand, and dirt) to help with their digestion. And for people im sure it had the same effect. It is possible that they ingested a little bacteria so that their immune system could fight it off and gain some strength. It seems like more and more of the youth these days have some sort of food allergy, and i wonder if it is because alot of parents these days are so concerned with these so called "poisons" that these kids arent developing enough antibodies to fight off little bits of bacteria that they ingest. Im not sure what the new trend is for disease preventers, but im sure some of the cooky people in this world are eating some things that are atleast as odd, if not more odd, than dirt.
ReplyDeleteI believe for people of this day an age, this is amusing, that it is entirely appropriate for that day and age. Now we believe sterility is the answer as the only way to stay healthy. Yet, there is now a new wave of mentality being accepted by the "greener" generation, parents are allowing their children to sit and play in the backyard and by dinner time, the children do not have to wash their hands. Washing your hands before a meal, seems so routine, now not so much. Their argument is the same as those of the St. Louis group. My diet, in my mind, is appropriate to what I think is okay for my body, what in ( not excess ) reasonable portions, does not make me keel over. I would take a glass of milk over soda any day, or even some juices that do not agree to my body. I am sure if the St. Louis group were able to find the "scientific" evidence to prove why what they are doing if better they would, almost the same as those trying to find reason to the plagues of the Bible or historic natural disasters only written down my the Mayans. If eating a spoonful of dirt with a glass of milk in the evening settled the stomach, that might be the next big thing on the celebrity eating circuit.
ReplyDeleteWhile I can’t relate with this article directly (I’ve never eaten, or had any desire to eat dirt) I do have my rituals that I follow because I believe they keep me healthy, so this wasn’t to far fetched for me to understand. Every morning I’ll drink 2 shots of wheatgrass in a small glass of V8 juice. I began this because I was extremely deficient in iron and low blood pressure so my doctor recommended it. At first I did the wheatgrass alone, which to me was unbearable. I then experimented with it in orange juice, smoothies, etc. and found V8 to be the most tolerable. It wasn’t easy at first, but I’ve grown to love it and feel better on it as well. Most people I tell cringe at the thought of wheatgrass, but for me it has become routine just as dirt did to them.
ReplyDelete1901 was before vitamins were being invented or really even looked at, so this was their way of getting nutrients that their bodies craved. To this day we still extract minerals from clay etc. and use it for healing purposes so I see this as a valid way to stay healthy-or at least during this time period with their knowledge on minerals and supplements and so on.
I have never eaten dirt before, but a family friend usually eats some bugs that he "grown" daily to keep healthy. I tried once, and I kind of liked it. He said the bugs has some vitamins and proteins that are good for us. I don't know how to grow it and eat it continously , so I don't know if it is real. Now I eat vegetables and fruits to keep me healthy. Sometimes I will have some nuts to get enough fat, vitamins and minerals.
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