Can "eating dirt" cure enteritis? What kind of weird linkage is this?

Recently, a new research result published in Nature Chemistry showed that "eating soil" can also regulate intestinal microbiome and treat enteritis.

However, the soil here is not the soil we see in daily life, but a soil bionic material constructed by artificial synthesis. It is composed of three components: montmorillonite (a natural soil component, commonly known as "Guanyin soil"), starch particles and liquid metal.

This soil biomimetic material can enhance microbial metabolism and improve the synthesis of bio-based chemicals in vitro, enrich the diversity of the intestinal microbiome under pathological conditions, and regulate bacterial imbalance in vivo.

"Earth" and enteritis, what kind of strange connection is this?

Gao Xiang, associate researcher at the Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and co-first author of the article, said in an interview with the media that in nature, soil is a very good combination of materials and microorganisms, so the research object was focused on soil.

Finally, it was found that both Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis grew well in the synthetic soil biomimetic material. The intestinal microbial flora is similar to the flora in the soil, so the research team thought of the connection between "soil" and the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.

Schematic diagram of edible "artificial soil" to help intestinal microecology. Image provided by the research team

Therefore, the research team established a mouse model with disordered intestinal microorganisms. After the mice "ate" the soil bionic materials developed by the research team, it was found that their disordered intestinal microbial flora was restored and the ecological model was re-established.

At the same time, scientists have also found that the material can also be used to treat acute enteritis induced by sodium dextran sulfate. Through experiments on mouse models treated with soil bionic materials, it was confirmed that the material can regulate intestinal microbiota and treat enteritis, indicating that "eating soil" can treat intestinal diseases.

However, the research is still in the animal experiment stage, the mechanism of action is still unclear, and it has not yet been applied in clinical practice.

Can the soil on the ground be eaten?

Although this scientific research has not yet been applied to clinical practice, the phenomenon of eating soil has existed in various parts of the world throughout history, and the soil that was eaten was real soil from the ground.

"Guanyin soil" is often used to satisfy hunger during special periods. Guanyin soil, also known as kaolin, is a good raw material for making porcelain. Although Guanyin soil contains minerals, it is inorganic and difficult to be absorbed by the human body. Moreover, unpurified Guanyin soil contains heavy metals, parasite eggs, and bacteria. Eating too much will cause digestive disorders and inability to excrete.

Therefore, people feel full after eating it, but it has little nutrition and will cause bloating, constipation, and edema. In the TV series "Story of Yanxi Palace", Wei Yingluo used the property of kaolin that bloating can cause bloating to pretend to be pregnant.

We often use the term "not adapting to the local climate" to describe the physical discomfort of people who arrive in a foreign country, such as vomiting and diarrhea. This phenomenon is now called "traveler's diarrhea", mainly because the intestinal flora may find it difficult to adapt to the foreign diet in a short period of time, as well as differences in food quality, geographical factors, allergies, etc.

In this regard, some people bring soil from their hometown to boil water when they go to other places to avoid acclimatization. However, the germs carried in the soil may cause diarrhea and discomfort, so this method is not recommended.

Jiangshi is a calcareous nodule in the loess layer or weathered red soil layer, which is produced in Xingtai, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Jiangsu in my country. It contains a variety of trace elements (iodine, silicon, zinc, copper, manganese, diamond, selenium, etc.), which are indispensable to the human body. Among them, selenium has a certain anti-cancer effect. Jiangshi has been used as a medicine for treating sores as early as the Tang Dynasty.

In Hebei, Shaanxi, Gansu and other places, many people grind ginger stone into powder and take it, or put it into a jar and drink it, in order to achieve the purpose of curing diseases and improving health.

In addition to satisfying hunger and maintaining health, soil is also eaten as food in some places.

White clay is called "earth sour cream" in the Far East of the Soviet Union. It is white in color and looks like frozen meat. Geologists believe that it is the weathering product of light-colored glassy lava and is formed by redeposition. It can be eaten alone or mixed with deer milk.

In Wuxiang, Shanxi Province, my country, a delicacy called "chaozhi" is made of loess and is a local traditional snack.

Wuxiang fried finger source: Reading Commune

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Source: Science and Technology Daily, Oriental Morning Post

Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Science Institute, Mining Exchange

Compiled by: Dang Min

Editor: Guru