Typically, you don't want your kids eating dirt. But some TikTokers have been encouraging such ..
. [+] behavior. (Photo: Getty) Will this latest TikTok trend make you soil yourself? Some TikTokers are now telling you to eat dirt.
Yes, dirt, as in the stuff that’s on the ground. Or rather the ground itself. They’re claiming that eating dirt can have all kinds of health benefits such as boosting your gut health, preventing or reversing aging, reducing acne and wrinkles and decreasing body fat.
You’ve even got folks—including those calling themselves “crunchers”—telling you about how much they enjoy eating dirt. But are such claims firmly grounded in, you know, scientific evidence? Umm, not exactly. For example, take a look at this this video posted by @stefanie_adler on TikTok: As you can see, the video asked the question, “Want to improve your child’s (and your own) gut health” and then promptly answered its own question with “Eat dirt” before you could respond with something else.
So, why would you go against what parents typically do, namely keep their kids from eating dirt? Well, the video offered the following rationale, “[One] teaspoon of organic biodynamic soil has more microorganisms than humans on earth.” OK, yes, dirt can have a lot of microorganisms. And, yes, there is evidence of health benefits arising from having a more diverse population of microorganisms in your gut microbiome—you know, that city of bacteria and other microbes that .