HUMAN CONSUMPTION OF DIATOMACEOUS EARTH

[Zoomer]

Hi Jeff.
Have you ever heard of anyone taking this as a supplement? This link has the purported benefits--------
http://heavenandearthpowder.info/Human_Use.html


Thank you

[Chumly]

We use it in filtration to create a coating on filters that increases filtration efficiency. I can't imagine there is much benefit from consuming it.

[Purdy]

Do you have ANY reason at all to believe you aren't already getting enough in your daily diet? Or that adding any more will do you even a tiny bit of good?

[Zoomer]

Purdy---------Did you check out the link?
I was asking Jeff

[JeffN]

Hi Jeff.
Have you ever heard of anyone taking this as a supplement?

Hi Zoomer

my position is that there should be some good evidence for anything we do, whether it is a food, a diet, a herb, a medicine, a supplement, a treatment, or anything. We should also be aware of the potential harm and/or side effects.

Good evidence, means peer reviewed published studies in mainstream scientific journals.

Anyone can came out and make virtually any claim they want. The burden of proof is not really on us to disprove everyone of them and all their claims but the real burden of proof is on them to substantiate their products, diets and their claims. And with more than short term unpublished data or anecdotal info. If they get shut down for one diet, they just rearrange a few things and come right back out with a new diet making the same extra-ordinary claims.

in addition, extra-ordinary claims require extra-ordinary proof.

The burden is on them, not me.

Having said that...

From Wikipedia..

Safety considerations

The absorbent qualities of diatomite can result in a significant drying of the hands, if handled without gloves. The saltwater (industrial) form contains a highly crystalline form of silica, resulting in sharp edges. The sharpness of this version of the material makes it dangerous to breathe and a dust mask is recommended when working with it.

The type of hazard posed by inhalation depends on the form of the silica. Crystalline silica poses a serious inhalation hazard because it can cause silicosis. Amorphous silica can cause dusty lungs, but does not carry the same degree of risk as crystalline silica. Food-grade diatomite generally contains very low percentages of crystalline silica. Diatomite produced for pool filters is treated with heat, causing the formerly amorphous silicon dioxide to assume its crystalline form.

In the United States, the crystalline silica content in the dusts is regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and there are guidelines for the maximum amounts allowable in the product and in the air near the breathing zone of workers.

From Pubmed

Occup Environ Med. 2002 Jan;59(1):36-43.

Exposure to crystalline silica, silicosis, and lung disease other than cancer in diatomaceous earth industry workers: a quantitative risk assessment.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate excess lifetime risk of (a) mortality from lung disease other than cancer (LDOC), and, (b) onset of radiographic silicosis, arising from occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica dust.

METHODS: Data from a cohort of California diatomaceous earth mining and processing workers exposed to crystalline silica dust (mainly as cristobalite) were reanalyzed with Poisson regression methods with internal and external adjustments for potential confounding by calendar time, age, smoking, Hispanic ethnicity, and time since first observation. Model fit was evaluated by comparing deviances and fitting cubic spline models. Lifetime risks of death from LDOC and radiographic silicosis were estimated up to age 85 with an actuarial approach accounting for competing causes of death.

RESULTS: For deaths due to LDOC, a linear relative rate model gave the best fit in Poisson regression analyses. At the mean cumulative exposure of LDOC cases to silica, after adjustment for smoking, the estimated rate ratio was 4.2 (p<0.0001); at the maximum cumulative exposure of cases, the rate ratio was 18.4. The excess lifetime risk for white men exposed to respirable cristobalite dust for 45 years at the current permissible exposure limit (PEL; about 0.05 mg/m(3)) of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was 54/1000 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 17 to 150). For 70 incident cases of radiographic silicosis largely manifest before the end of employment, the best fit was also the linear relative rate model, predicting a rate ratio of 25.6 for silicosis at the mean cumulative exposure of the cases (p<0.0001). The excess lifetime risk for silicosis at the current PEL was 75/1000.

CONCLUSION: Current occupational health standards for crystalline silica permit risks of lung disease other than cancer far in excess of what is usually considered acceptable by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (a lifetime risk of less than one in a thousand deaths).

PMID: 11836467

I would not recommend or touch the stuff.

In Health
Jeff

[Zoomer]

I had read their claims and they sounded like they had some good peripheral benefits. I hadn't done other searching, tho.

[Purdy]

I have seen it used as part of herb formulas to kill intestinal parasites.

You don't mean the kind of parasites that Hulda Clark and the Cure Zone speak about, do you?

[Yoga Nurse]

The only person I know who had medically diagnosed intestinal parasites (not pinworms which are common) spent time in Ethiopia where he was served meat- it was considered a rare delicacy and served to him as a form of honoring the guest). Refrigeration was rare and he actually saw the worms in the food. So as not to insult his hosts he ate small amounts. (He is not a vegetarian.) When he came home he was sick with severe intestinal discomfort and diagnosed- after a time- with parasites. He was treated (not with diatomaceous earth) and fully recovered- though it took some time.

[sonicrami]

The only person I know who had medically diagnosed intestinal parasites (not pinworms which are common) spent time in Ethiopia where he was served meat- it was considered a rare delicacy and served to him as a form of honoring the guest). Refrigeration was rare and he actually saw the worms in the food. So as not to insult his hosts he ate small amounts. (He is not a vegetarian.) When he came home he was sick with severe intestinal discomfort and diagnosed- after a time- with parasites. He was treated (not with diatomaceous earth) and fully recovered- though it took some time.

how can someone eat a food with worms obviously wriggling around in it!

[dstewart]

The only person I know who had medically diagnosed intestinal parasites (not pinworms which are common) spent time in Ethiopia where he was served meat- it was considered a rare delicacy and served to him as a form of honoring the guest). Refrigeration was rare and he actually saw the worms in the food. So as not to insult his hosts he ate small amounts. (He is not a vegetarian.) When he came home he was sick with severe intestinal discomfort and diagnosed- after a time- with parasites. He was treated (not with diatomaceous earth) and fully recovered- though it took some time.

how can someone eat a food with worms obviously wriggling around in it!

Worms are just tiny, wriggly, long meat.

[Katydid]

I studied diatomology in college. Diatoms are some of the most beautiful microscopic organisms you can imagine. But they are essentially little spiky, pointy glass spears. Diatomaceous earth is BROKEN little spiky, pointy glass spears - NOT the kind of things you want inside your delicate esophogus and digestive system. Some people put diatomaceous earth in grain buckets to prevent maggots (by stabbing them to death), but in that case the diatoms are ground into flour along with the grain. Best to avoid both eating, and as Jeff says breathing.
Kate

[Steve]

I used Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth to great effect in treating a serious and prolonged bout of constipation. It also works on loose stools to make everything right. After reading Jeff's post I will seriously consider using a mask. Of course most folks on this board following the McDougall program will not have a problem with constipation. However, it was a godsend to me and totally replaced using laxatives/pepto bismal.

Steve