Eating Dirt: Freaky Addiction Or Good Idea?
By: Becky Bracken
Published: June 7, 2011

Maybe making mud pies in the backyard isn't just a fun summertime kid activity? The compulsion to eat mud, dirt or clay is called Geophagy and results in a disorder called Pica. And recently researchers from Cornell University wanted to understand more about why people, mostly pregnant women and adolescent children, were drawn to eat dirt and clay. 
They believe that the dirt actually protects the stomach against parasites and other gastrointestinal distress, something pregnant women and adolescents are particularly susceptible to catching.