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One in six MOMs have lost their teeth after obsessively eating DIRT for stress relief.
Elizabeth Smith Leath started chewing mugs of dirt when she was in school to copy with anxiety.
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The 31-year-old man was diagnosed with sting when she was 17 – an eating disorder that causes sufferers to eat non-food items.
This can include paint, dust, dirt, and sponges.
As a teenager, Elizabeth’s craving was so intense that she ate five cups of dirt and dirt a day, causing her to lose four teeth.
She said, “There is no taste like that. I went to a therapist who told me to grind some eclairs of wheat and eat them because it is a similar texture.
“Sometimes it works until I get super stress outside.
“I’m taking some medicine to help manage it, but I still have food cravings. I’m going to go out, grab a cup full of dirt and sit and chew on it.
“If I can’t get dirt, I’ll eat sand because that’s the closest thing to it.
“It damaged my teeth, they really deteriorated and I lost four of them.”
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The stay-at-home mom, from Iowa Park, Texas, collects soil from her garden and eats it outside.
She has tried to keep this habit a secret from her children, Dama and Jacob, 17, Sonia, 12, Solee, 11, Rosetta, 10, and Bella, four.
Although her children have never seen her eat dirt, Elizabeth worries that they will resume her habit as her youngest child, Bella, has started to eat ashes.
Elizabeth said: “She has ADHD and it is not uncommon for children with ADHD to have pica.
“I just think ‘here we go.” I eat dirt to deal with the stress but Bella is not in a stressful situation.
“She will eat ashes from an ashtray. She is the only one of my children to eat non-food items.”
Elizabeth’s husband Russel, 31, tried to get her to give up the habit, but she hasn’t been able to shake it off yet.
She added, “I was first diagnosed with bipolar and when I was stressed my coping mechanism was to go out and eat dirt.
“I just couldn’t stop. I didn’t tell anyone about it until I was 17, and my foster mom grabbed me and took me to a doctor.
“I told my husband when we were at school and he surprised me sitting in the dirt.
“ADAPTATION MECHANISM”
“He wants me to stop because he’s worried that I have internal bleeding or something.
“My younger ones don’t know it, but the older ones understood it.”
Pica is an eating disorder that causes long-term cravings for inedible items.
People with the condition may want to consume all kinds of items, from coins and clothes to cigarette butts.
Pregnant women may also experience temporary urges to eat non-food items.
Although the NHS does not describe a specific treatment for pica, it recommends options different from those that fight eating disorders.
Cognitive behavior therapy can be useful in changing the way a patient thinks about a situation, which can help change the way they act.
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Interpersonal psychotherapy, which involves talking about the disorder to an expert, can also be helpful.
Dietary counseling and cognitive analytic therapy are among the other options available.
If you are suffering from pica syndrome, it is advisable to visit your local GP to discuss treatment options.
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