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this post was submitted on 18 May 2026
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Today I Learned
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I was baffled no one wrote here WHY anyone would do this. Here's the answer from the article:
The cause of the cultural behavior usually has a purpose though.
Thanks for citing this, but it still doesn't explain why this custom has developed.
The most likely explanation is that kaolinite clay is known to reduce nausea and diarrhea.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.893831/full
What rational reason is there for people to eat cereal for breakfast?
Cereal was designed to prevent masturbation.
Yeah pour it in the trousers!
Cream of Wheat, not cream of meat.
There's always a reason, but it doesn't need to be entirely rational. Kellogg was a nut, but that's a different topic, no?
That's true for a lot of customs.
Oh I agree.
In clinic, this is called pica.
Dirt is full of streptomyces species and spores. It's why dirt smells like dirt. Those species produce most of our antibiotics.