Why do people crave 'eating bad'?

A new study revealed that not only pregnant women and children with pica syndrome - craving for non-food stuffs, have little or no nutritional value such as clay, nails, sand, chalk, chicken feces, . - that even men crave 'eat'

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A group of international experts have conducted research on pica syndrome in Madagascar, where the phenomenon of 'eating out' is very common.

Researcher Christopher Golden and colleagues investigated pica behavior in 760 people who were randomly selected in 16 villages in Madagascar's Protected Area of ​​Makira.

According to new research reports published in the journal PLOS ONE, more than 53% of the study subjects, including men and women, had signs of pica syndrome, especially in adult men, this ratio reached 63%. Meanwhile, only less than 1% of pregnant women said they ate non-food items during pregnancy.

The team has identified 13 non-food dishes that appear on the menu of subjects with pica syndrome, including sand, soil, chicken manure, rice, raw cassava roots, charcoal, salt and ash.

The question here is: Why do so many people like to 'eat miserably'?

Author Christopher Golden said, many people reveal non-food items because of their healing effects, especially for stomach problems. Others believe that pica eating really helps to bring better health.

In the past, scientists have found that people have a habit of pica for two reasons: to compensate for the lack of trace minerals in their meals or to purify and remove helminths in the sugar. intestine.

The nutritional hypothesis seems to be true for pregnant women and children - those who need a richer diet than the rest of us. Even so, science has not yet obtained any evidence that the human body can actually absorb the trace minerals from the soil, Golden stressed. The expert added that pica 'may not bring any health benefits'.

In addition, according to Laura Beatriz López, a leading dietitian at the University of Buenos Aires and a member of the research team, Madagascar people in general have a habit of eating non-toxic things. For example, many people in this country do not consider eating raw starch, such as rice, cassava, which is a sign of pica syndrome.

However, pica syndrome is not only detected in rural communities in developing countries. Even in the United States, there are many cases of craving for food.

Some experts, including Susan Albers, a Cleveland Medical Center psychologist, said that pica syndrome is a serious eating disorder but less attention-grabbing than research Other like crazy eating or anorexia.

Still, researcher Golden says he does not approve of considering pica syndrome as an eating disorder because it is still unclear whether pica is harmful. He only agreed to conduct further research on this syndrome, especially in men.