Litofagiya is a consumption of stones and earthy substances. It is widespread among birds and animals. In medicine medicines from stones and clay are used for improvement of the person.
Many birds of family chicken are litofaga. Hens, geese and ducks swallow stones which they specially try to discover on the earth. In their stomachs they fray together with other forage that promotes digestion process.
Mammals eat sand and earthy substances too. Amphibia, reptiles and a number of fishes who have a gizzard eat stones.
Elks, deer and wolves find stones and lick them. Was considered that thus animals find salt in the nature to fill in an organism shortage of sodium. Scientists found out that stones which they choose for food have no relation to salt. Researches showed that between animals and stones ion-exchange processes are made. There is a release of an organism from substances unnecessary and harmful to it and completion of missing. One of hypotheses of emergence of a litofagiya, scientists explain with an instinct of self-treatment of animals. Bears absorb muddy soil when they have problems with health: diarrhea, poisonings, infection with parasites and others.
Litofagiya became widespread among monkeys. She is characteristic and of the person.
Hunger in the Volga region which came after Civil war and a severe drought forced people is the earth. To food there was a clay sated with products of disintegration of organic matter.
When studying features of life and food of different tribes and the people, ethnographers noted this phenomenon. Aboriginals of many continents include stones and the earth in the diet. Natives of South America eat clay silt which is roasted on fire. Peruvians cook a clay dish, mixing it with potatoes. Tribes of Maori in New Zealand use the grayish-yellow earth of volcanic origin in food. Food which is called Ampo is popular with residents of Indonesia. The fertile earth from rice fields is its part.
Women of the countries of Africa are fond of eating of stones. Their organism has not enough minerals: calcium, silicon, iron and others. In the African shops the stones can be bought. They are on sale in wide assortment: small and large, various on color and taste.
Ancient Chinese and Tibetan treatises described that application in food of rocks and minerals renders improving effect on the person.
The civilization forced out stones from our diet. Modern people it is difficult to call litofagam, but we cannot do without salt, and at poisoning we accept activated carbon. Some women during pregnancy eat chalk and clay.
It demonstrates that at the person the need for products from the depths of the earth remained. Producers of medicines produce dietary supplements from minerals of volcanic breed — zeolites. In medicine they are used for maintenance of health of a human body. These drugs are also appointed by doctors for acceleration of process of recovery of patients.