Etymologically the term geophagy comes from the Greek "geo" which means "earth" and "phagein" which means "eat" . Which indicates that geophagy is the habit of eating dirt. Geophagy is usually practiced by animals, however when it occurs in people, it may be as a result of an eating disorder called Pica that is characterized by the need to ingest substances that are not suitable for consumption.
This peculiar habit of eating dirt is linked to some type of mental disorder that the person may be suffering from, there are also other explanations such as that the patient is suffering from some iron or potassium deficiency. Generally children under 6 years of age have the habit of eating dirt, as well as pregnant women, the causes are still unknown to experts.
The geophagia is not only related to eating dirt, also some people can eat chalk, clay or lead, which negatively affects their health because they may suffer from poisoning. Birds tend to consume soil, especially clay, they do so to absorb some minerals such as calcium and sodium, additionally this frequent habit of birds to eat soil and pebbles that they then keep in their gizzards favor them when grinding their food.
Some reptiles like iguanas also practice geophagy in order to benefit the digestive process, as well as to optimize their nutrients. There are also some arthropods such as butterflies are in search of sources of salt that they get in humid soil, it has been proven that males tend to get much more liquids from the ground than females.
