Anyway, there was a really good Nova? special on geophagy 5-6 years ago.    From Wordnik.com.  [Is a 3-yr-old who eats paper normal?] Reference

Never mind that geophagy was and probably still is practiced right here in the US of A.    From Wordnik.com.  [Firedoglake » The Media Counterpunch] Reference

Far from being a dysfunctional behavior, geophagy has evolved as a practice for maintaining health amongst chimpanzees.    From Wordnik.com.  [Archive 2008-01-01] Reference

In this particular study (1), to be published online this week in Springer’s journal Naturwissenschaften, geophagy increases the potency of ingested plants with anti-malarial properties.    From Wordnik.com.  [Archive 2008-01-01] Reference

The deliberate ingestion of soil, or ‘geophagy’, has important health benefits for chimpanzees, according to Sabrina Krief and her colleagues from the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, France.    From Wordnik.com.  [Archive 2008-01-01] Reference

Apparently geophagy, as the deliberate behvaior is known, increases the potency of ingested plants with anti-malarial properties.    From Wordnik.com.  [Mongabay.com News] Reference

The attention of physiologists, since my return from the Orinoco, having been powerfully directed to these phenomena of geophagy, M. Leschenault.    From Wordnik.com.  [Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 2] Reference

The attention of physiologists, since my return from the Orinoco, having been powerfully directed to these phenomena of geophagy, M. Leschenault (one of the naturalists of the expedition to the Antarctic regions under the command of captain Baudin) has published some curious details on the tanaampo, or ampo, of the.    From Wordnik.com.  [Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America] Reference

I'm not promoting geophagy, just yet, though.    From Wordnik.com.  [Bob Wright proposes a "competition to see who can be more civil and at the same time be more disagreeing in a substantively contentious way."] Reference

Leschenault, M., on geophagy.    From Wordnik.com.  [Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 3] Reference

The consumption of the latter, sometimes called geophagy or geophagia, a Greek term meaning "earth-eating," is the most commonly noted type of pica, and some researchers today believe that it may be a response to fill a nutritional deficiency, such as low iron or calcium. 89 Clay consumption can lead to several health problems, however, such as liver and kidney damage, constipation, abdominal problems, mercury poisoning, and anemia.    From Wordnik.com.  [Pestilence and Headcolds: Encountering Illness in Colonial Mexico] Reference