While the notion of deliberately eating dirt may be unappetizing to most people, the practice has a long history and may actually be seen by some as healthy, a new study finds. The analysis of existing research on the issue finds that eating dirt, or “geophagy,” may protect the body against invaders such as germs and parasites. People have eaten dirt for thousands of years, at least, and it’s been reported in almost every country, according to report lead author Sera Young, a researcher at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. In fact, geophagy has been reported on every inhabited continent and in almost every country.
