The phenomenon when a person wants to eat something unusual is often found in everyday life. It can be ice, clay, paper, or something else no less exotic. But the undoubted leader in changing food habits is chalk. To see this, just look at the forums. “I eat chalk!”, “I think about it all the time!” - these messages are very numerous, and they do not become less over time. Therefore, it is worth understanding the causes of this phenomenon and whether it is so harmless to the human body.
Why do you want to eat chalk
What happens in the body if it signals an imbalance in such an unusual way? Doctors, when asked why they want to eat chalk, answer that, first of all, this may indicate a decrease in hemoglobin levels. Iron deficiency anemia occurs for various reasons: unbalanced diet, surgery, bleeding, taking certain medications, chronic diseases. Therefore, if a person says “I eat chalk”, the first thing he needs to do is take a blood test, which will help identify the deficiency.iron in the blood. According to the World He alth Organization, about 2 billion people suffer from anemia. This disease develops when there is a difference between the body used and the iron that came with food. Very often, when a similar problem occurs, one diet will not be enough. Specially designed iron-containing preparations come to the rescue. Knowing this, a person who constantly wants to eat chalk should visit a doctor for diagnosis and treatment.
Iron deficiency anemia leads to the fact that the human body becomes defenseless against dangerous diseases. Therefore, you should not dismiss such a seemingly harmless symptom as the desire to gnaw on a piece of chalk.
What to look out for
If a person can say about himself "I eat chalk!", Other manifestations of iron deficiency anemia should also alert him. Among them are pale skin, weakness, palpitations, decreased immunity, brittle nails and hair, shortness of breath, unstable psycho-emotional background. Similar symptoms indicate that iron deficiency anemia is already of moderate severity, and medical assistance is indispensable.
Familiar stranger
In order to make sure whether it is possible to eat chalk and how safe it is for the body, you need to understand what this substance is.
Chalk is a sedimentary rock of organic origin, one of the many types of limestone. The basis of chalk is calcium carbonate (up to 98%), in addition to it, chalk containssmall amounts of magnesium carbonate and metal oxides. Chalk is insoluble in water.
This mineral is widely used in agriculture, paper and metal production, sugar, glass and chemical industries. It has a lot of useful properties, but, unfortunately, it will not affect iron deficiency in the blood in any way. Therefore, to the question of whether it is possible to eat chalk with anemia, the answer lies in the expediency of this action, because eating calcium carbonate in no way contributes to the elimination of iron deficiency.
Other body disorders
In addition to anemia, there are some other abnormalities in the human body that can lead to a change in taste preferences. Liver or thyroid disorders cause calcium deficiency. With the improper functioning of this organ, a person may have a desire to eat chalk. This is explained by the fact that calcium in such conditions is excreted from the body faster than it enters with food.
Vitamin deficiency can also be the reason why you want to eat chalk. Calcium is absorbed by the human body only with a sufficient content of vitamins D, E and C. It is they that regulate the absorption of this trace element, its level in the blood and the flow of the mineral into bone tissue and teeth. Therefore, even he althy people can experience an irresistible craving for eating chalk - this is how they compensate for the lack of calcium in the body.
During childbearing
Well, who doesn't know about the cute eccentricities of women duringpregnancy. Perhaps the desire to gnaw on a piece of chalk is one of the most common. But is everything as harmless as it seems at first glance? If you want to eat chalk, what does it mean during pregnancy?
Studies show that even in absolutely he althy women in an "interesting" position, symptoms of calcium deficiency appear in 17% of cases. This manifests itself in the form of muscle pain, a feeling of "crawling", muscle cramps. And in cases of pregnancies complicated by concomitant diseases, this percentage reaches 50. Calcium deficiency can cause the development of such serious diseases as osteoporosis and osteomalacia. Chronic deficiency of this trace element can lead to delayed fetal development. Therefore, the expectant mother must definitely receive the necessary amount of calcium, the norm of which is 1400-1500 mg per day.
How to avoid deficiency of this important trace element? It should be noted that its largest amount is found in calcium carbonate, and this is chalk. Nevertheless, unusual taste preferences should be reported to an obstetrician-gynecologist so that he can rule out iron deficiency anemia using laboratory tests.
What kind of chalk can not be eaten
In order not to harm the body, you need to eat only the "correct" calcium carbonate. But in order to find it, you will have to make some efforts. Neither the pharmacy nor the supermarket sells such a “product”. Neither stationery chalk will do, inwhich, for strength, gypsum and glue are added, nor construction - it also has a lot of harmful additives. So what kind of chalk can you eat? If a person cannot do without such a “delicacy”, it is preferable to eat natural natural chalk mined in quarries or extracted from rock - it does not have harmful impurities. Being an environmentally friendly natural product, it will compensate for calcium deficiency in the body in a natural way. This chalk can be purchased online.
Negative Consequences
A small piece of chalk is unlikely to cause significant harm to the body. But a large amount of a regularly eaten mineral can cause calcium to be deposited in the kidneys and lungs. If it is taken uncontrollably for a long time, the mineral will accumulate in the pancreas, which can lead to the development of diabetes and pancreatitis. Disturbances in the work of the cardiovascular system will not keep you waiting after several months of drinking large quantities of chalk. Kidney stones can also form due to the high calcium content. Therefore, before deciding whether to eat chalk, a person should also be aware of the negative consequences of eating this product.
Diet Adjustment
Knowing why you want to eat chalk, you can adjust the diet in such a way that, if not reduce this desire to zero, then significantly weaken it. Eat foods rich incalcium and iron. These include: liver, veal, pomegranate, milk, cheeses, cottage cheese, sea fish, greens.
