Holystic Haven

About Clay

About Clay

Clay is a term used to describe a group of hydrous aluminium phyllosilicate (phyllosilicates being a subgroup of silicate minerals) minerals (see clay minerals), that are typically less than 2 μm (micrometres) in diameter. Clay consists of a variety of phyllosilicate minerals rich in silicon and aluminium oxides and hydroxides which include variable amounts of structural water. Clays are generally formed by the chemical weathering of silicate-bearing rocks by carbonic acid but some are formed by hydrothermal activity. Clays are distinguished from other small particles present in soils such as silt by their small size, flake or layered shape, affinity for water and tendency toward high plasticity.

Kinds of Clay Top Page

The following is an excerpt from the book Living Clay:

All clay is volcanic ash. As the lava flows down the side of the volcanic cone, the ash is blown high, oftentimes miles, into the sky. Slowly it settles to the ground, sometimes nearby, sometimes hundreds of miles away, and in extreme cases it can circumvent the globe.

Volcanic ash, clay, falls into seven separate and distinct family groups. Within these seven families there are thousands of different types of mineral compositions, each unique and serving vastly different purposes in our world.

Kaolin clays are best known for their uses in anti-diarrheal products such as Kaopectate. While it absorbs toxins and bacteria to a limited extent, as do most clays, Kaolin clay acts primarily as a bulking agent. Some health food companies of late have begun selling Kaolin as a mineral supplement. I do not recommend natural Kaolin for any purpose other than severe diarrhea.

Illite clays are known for their commercial applications. It is a green mineral clay found in marine settings. Some cosmeceutical companies use this industrial clay in their “mud” formulations due to it’s high content of long dormant microbials and other sea life residue. They are generally a non-swelling clay and aside from commercial uses, are known for topical use. I would not recommend taking Illites internally. Taking Illite internally appears to have a pronounced effect on the LUNGS within 12 hours of ingestion.

Chlorite clays are know for their abrasive and cleansing properties. Clorox cleansing, scrubbing powder is a typical product made from this clay. Never use this caustic, abrasive clay on your body.

Vermiculite clays are used for making china, pottery and other like applications such as porcelain finishes on metals. While Vermiculite is not recommended for use on the body, there is one company selling a USP grade Vermiculite for internal use. This is not an adsorbent, swelling clay, and has both a positive and negative charge. Therefore I do not recommend it as the best internal clay.

Mixed group clays occur when a volcano spews ash from several different internal plate formations. It is not uncommon to find mixed group clay formation at many mines or quarries.

Lath-formed clays are yet another mixed form and a typical use is fired bricks for construction. It is not suitable for use on the body.

Smectite clays compromise 99% of all clays used for health purposes today. Smectites are unique in that they swell while absorbing and adsorbing positive charged ions. It is the favored clay for health and dietary use as well as for many industrial applications.

Smectites are more complicated clays and have a higher exchange capacity than the other six family groups of clay. It has the unique ability to adsorb and absorb toxins at a greater rate than any other group.

Within the Smectite family there are hundreds of different types of clays, each consisting of between 8 and 145 minerals. The most common sub family is Montmorillonite. Further along the Montmorillonite family tree are the various Bentonites. It’s from the Smectite family tree that we find the broadest spectrum healing modality on our planet – Calcium Bentonite Clay.

Montmorillonite Clay was named after the town of Montmorillon in France where it was first identified. Its common name today is French Green and you will see it packaged under several different brands today and available in many health food stores. Your green swelling clays are known for their remarkable healing properties. Not to say that non-swelling clays are not good also but due to the molecular makeup the swelling clays have a greater drawing or detoxing potential.

Bentonite Clay was named after the town of Ft. Benton, Wyoming where it was first identified by a miner named John Pascal. His product was branded as Pascalite, which is a form of non-swelling calcium based Bentonite Clay.

Calcium Bentonite Clay is the rarest form of clay in the Smectite family. There have been only a few finds throughout history of mines, which contained a pure vein, natural, Calcium Bentonite Clay. Even though Sodium Bentonite, and Calcium Bentonite Clay are cousins from the same family genesis, they are as different as night and day in efficacy and intended uses.

So, if you're looking for the best clay for detoxing, internal cleansing, or any sort of healing use, Calcium Bentonite Clay is the #1 clay of choice.

How Clay Works - Adsorption and Absorption Top Pa ge

The two words are similar but their differences are fundamental to understanding how Bentonite clay minerals function and how healing clay works. Adsorption describes the process by which the charged particles of other substances combine with the charged particles on the outer surface of the clay molecule. First imagine the structure of the clay molecule to be similar to a stack of business cards with spaces in between the cards. The clay molecule has unsatisfied ionic bonds around its edges and naturally seeks to satisfy those bonds. For this to happen it must come into contact with a molecule of another substance with unsatisfied bonds that carry an opposite electrical (ionic) charge. When the two molecules meet, the ions held on the outer surface of the clay molecule are exchanged with the ions held on the outside surface of the molecule of the other substance.

Bentonite clay molecules carry a negative electrical charge while toxins, bacteria, viruses, parasites and other impurities carry a positive charge. When the clay is taken into the human body, the positively charged toxins are attracted to the negatively charged surfaces of the clay molecule. The clay molecule acts like a magnet, attracting and holding the toxins and impurities to its surface, and removing them when the clay is removed or expelled.

Absorption is a slower and more complex process. Acting like a sponge, the Bentonite clay molecule draws other substances into its internal structure. Absorption can only occur when the foreign substance has undergone a chemical change and is then allowed to enter the clay’s molecular inner structure. Once the foreign substance has undergone the chemical change, it enters into the spaces between the clay’s inner structures. So the toxins that were formerly only sticking to the surface of the clay’s outer structure through ionic bonding, are now pulled inside the clay molecule. This is the primary reason why absorptive clays are labeled as mobile layered or expandable clays. The more substances that are pulled into the clay’s inner structure, the more the clay expands and its layers swell.

All absorbent clays have a charge on their inner layers. This means that charged ions sit between the layers of the clay molecule surrounded by water molecules. The clay expands as foreign substances are absorbed and fill the spaces between the clay molecule’s stacked layers. Absorbent clay will absorb positively charged toxins and impurities and ignore negatively charged nutrients. Calcium Bentonite clay is by far the most effective clay, with the strongest drawing power.

History of Healing Clay Top Page

The names Bentonite, Montmorillonite, and Pascalite are sometimes used interchangeably to refer to edible Calcium Bentonite Clays belonging to the smectite family of clays. These clays were formed from volcanic activity millions of years ago and are principally volcanic ash. Many sodium-based clays are marketed as edible Bentonite Clays but require mixing with an acid beverage, like apple cider vinegar, to offset the high sodium content prior to consumption. As our bodies cannot tolerate the ingestion of large amounts of sodium, the amount of sodium-based clay that can be consumed in a day is restricted to small dosages. There are no such consumption requirements or restrictions placed on pure Calcium Bentonite Clay. Sodium-based clays are more typically used for industrial purposes, including: plaster; oil well drilling mud; cat litter; matches; cement tiles; lubricating grease; paints; copy paper; dynamite; shoe polish; concrete; cleaning agents; wall boards, crayons; and bleaching agents.

Calcium-based clays are referred to as “living clays” as they principally consist of minerals that contribute to the production of enzymes in all living organisms. They are the preferred clays to be ingested by humans, animals, and plants and for incorporating into soil. Always check your product labels. We recommend a pure, Calcium Bentonite Clay with a very fine mesh (325 is best)

Healing clay may be a new concept to some of us, but is has been used for thousands of years. Long before recorded history, humans have used healing clays externally and internally to cure illnesses, sustain life and promote general health. Ancient tribes of the high Andes, central Africa and the Aborigines of Australia used clay as a dietary staple, a supplement and for healing purposes.

In the second century A.D., Galen, the famous Greek philosopher and physician, was the first to record the use of clay by sick or injured animals. He later recorded numerous cases of the internal and external uses of clay in his treatise on clay therapy. In ancient Arabia, Avicena, the “Prince of Doctors”, taught hundreds of his students about clay therapy.

Dioscorides, a Greek who was considered the engineer of medicine for the Roman Empire, attributed “God-like Intelligence” to the properties exhibited by clay used for therapeutic purposes.

The Essenes (authors of the dead Sea Scrolls) used clay for the natural healing of a wide variety of illnesses and injuries, and there are numerous Biblical references to the healing powers of clay.

The many benefits of clay were recognized by the Amargosians (who preceded the Aztecs) and the natives of Mexico and South America. North American Indians used clay for food, body purification, healing, in ceremonial events and for trading with other tribes.

Early French cultures used clay for nutrition and medicinal purposes and also as a trading medium. They touted the clay’s healing effect on gum diseases, ulcers, rashes, dysentery, hemorrhoids, infected wounds and bites.

The 19th century German naturopath, Sebastian Kneipp, and fellow naturalist Adolph Just, accorded clay therapy a prominent position in their arsenal of holistic medicine due to the tremendous results they achieved using it.

Early in the 20th century, Julius Stump, a renowned Berlin Physician, successfully used clay therapy to treat Asiatic cholera. A contemporary, Dr. Meyer Camberg, used green clay to neutralize arsenic poisoning. During the 1st World War, German physicians offered clay therapy as a solution to the food poisoning, dysentery, diarrhea, and wound infection that was rampart among troops on both sides, greatly reducing mortality rates.

During the First World War, the Russian soldiers received 200 grams of clay along with their rations and it was added to mustard in several French regiments, who remained free of the dysentery which ravaged nearby regiments.

Modern man is also beginning to appreciate the miraculous healing properties of Calcium Bentonite Clay. Russian scientists used clay to protect their bodies from radiation when working with nuclear material. Because it adsorbs radiation so well, Bentonite Clay was the material chosen to dump into the Chernobyl reactors after the nuclear meltdown there. Today, osteopaths, and other health professionals that include alternative medicine as a part of their practice, are increasingly recommending Bentonite clay to their patients for detoxification and to address other illnesses and injuries.