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An Indian man who claims he is addicted to sand
consumes an entire plate of gravel every day.
Hans Raj, 45, has shunned normal snacks and instead chews on pieces of
brick and rock, which he says provide him with energy and minerals.
He first developed a penchant for eating grit when he was 20, and has
become known as 'the sand man' in his home state of Uttar Pradesh due to
his bizarre habit.
Doctors say he may be suffering from Pica, an impulsive and untreatable
eating disorder which sees sufferers develop appetites for non-edible
foods with no nutritional value.
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Pica can cause a range of serious complications if the person is eating
something that is poisonous or indigestible.
However, Mr Raj claims he has never suffered any health complications
from his strange diet.
He said: 'I have been eating bricks and rocks for around 25 years now. I
love eating them. I don't think they have been any harmful effects on
me.
'I started at a young age. Now it feels like all this is very normal to
me. In my opinion, minerals in sand give me energy, as do bits of
masonry.
'I have suffered no problems in stomach and mouth. My teeth are
absolutely fine. I can bite into the hardest stone without a problem.'
Pica, the Latin word for 'magpie', is most common in people with
learning disabilities and during pregnancy.
It can cause a range of serious complications, including being poisoned
by toxic ingredients, and having a part of the body obstructed.
Sufferers can damage their teeth, or have part of the body obstructed –
something often seen in people who eat hair.
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It can lead to weight gain if they are consuming more calories, or a
deficiency ff they are replacing nutritious food with substances with no
nutritional value.
Mr Raj, who lives in a tiny village, says he has been known to travel to
other villages to collect sand, gravel and fragments of bricks, which he
stores at his home.
'I would try and take out a loose brick or crumbly parts of someone's
house,' Mr Raj said.
'That was the only way for me to get my regular doses of rocks and other
things.'
His friends have spent years trying to persuade him to give up eating
gravel, but so far they have been unable to convince him to quit.
Mr Raj even decided to take a job to suit his palette - after becoming
employed as a mason (a stonework labourer).
His friend, Raja Singh, said he can be seen chewing rocks at work.
He said: 'I have been working with Hans Raj for almost 10 years now.
Both of us are masons.
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'He has been known to chew on the odd rock or brick fragment during
construction. It is just impossible to stop him. He has become an
addict.'
There have been times when he has been scolded by the buildings' owners
for eating up the raw material used in construction.
And despite doctors warning of the dangers, Mr Raj says he has no
intentions of seeking medical help.
He said: 'I love the taste of gravel. I have sand with tea, bread and
even soup. This is something that has kept me fit as I have never fallen
sick but people who eat normal food fall sick often.' |
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