# eating sand **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2002, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-sand/122573 "2002-08-06T07:05:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-sand/122573/1 "2002-08-06T07:05:26Z")
now, i’ve ate my fair share of sand. pbj’s are great, but there’s nothin like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the beach. and i’m sure as a dumb baby i ate fistfuls of the stuff. but how much sand could i eat at a time without causing any trouble? i don’t have diverticulitis or polyps (as far as i know), and i’ve eaten old food with nary a problem (“Old pizza? I believe you mean _good_ pizza!”). yet, i wonder how much one can swallow before it’s too much. a cup? two cups? jb ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-sand/122573/2 "2002-08-06T07:28:31Z")
Beach sand is pretty inert chemically, so probably it would be the _physical_ properties that would affect you first (perhaps the abrasive nature would irritate the stomach and intestines). ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-sand/122573/3 "2002-08-06T07:39:56Z")
JB, I knew I shouldn’t have stayed away all this time. You have had a relapse and it sounds like you have come down with a little case of Geophagia. You probably need more iron in your blood not silica. But sand is good for you. Where do you think the word “sandwich” originated? Not from that stuffy English Earl. OK, so about the worse thing that will happen to you if you eat a cup of sand is that you may develop an impacted gut if you don’t have some fiber with it. Maybe a good, old fashioned bran sandwich! (sorry) My recommendation is that you chug at least an ounce of nice, thick, viscous mineral oil as a chaser after every cup of sand and let me know when you feel full. The good news is that there is no caloric content to silica so you can eat it until your anal orifice is worn away from expelling it. But we can deal with that later. Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![Teelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Teelo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teelo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-sand/122573/4 "2002-08-06T07:57:38Z")
And its downright gross. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-sand/122573/5 "2002-08-06T09:56:44Z")
Just try not to chew it too much; it will certainly damage your tooth enamel. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-sand/122573/6 "2002-08-06T16:15:33Z")
no takers? jb