Possibly in her particular case, but clay eating has traditionally been too widespread in African American culture to be considered a disorder or compulsion. I read somewhere about African American women in northern cities having their Southern relatives ship them their favorite kind of clay to eat because they couldn't get it up there.
I read that same article I think.
Pica isn't necessarily disorder. There may be something in certain clay or loamish dirt that satisfies women's particular nutrient needs. My girlfriend gets insane iron cravings around her period and has to eat very particular foods. I wonder if there's something like that going on.
Some claim that eating silica is actually really good for you, and that silica is something that most diets are deficient in. I learned about this belief recently while reading up on using diatomaceous earth for pest control; apparently it comes in "food grade" for this purpose.
I'm actually trying to cut down on dust mite problems, which I don't think diatomaceous earth helps with. Apparently it's quite effective on bedbugs though.
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