Tag: Lithophagia

According to the American Psychiatric Association, pica is an eating disorder characterized by the persistent ingestion of non-nutritive, non-food substances. Within this classification, eating stones, or lithophagia, is a specific and potentially dangerous form that can stem from complex medical and psychological factors.

According to the DSM-5, a diagnosis of pica requires a person to have compulsively eaten non-nutritive substances for at least one month. Eating rocks is a form of this eating disorder known as lithophagia, a compulsive craving that poses serious health risks.

According to a 2015 meta-analysis, individuals reporting pica were 2.4 times more likely to be anemic compared to those without the condition. If you crave eating rocks, it is a key symptom of pica, an eating disorder involving the compulsive consumption of non-food items.

According to a systematic review published by the journal *MDPI*, the compulsive eating of non-food items, known as pica, is closely intertwined with iron deficiency anemia in adult populations. Understanding this connection is the first step towards addressing why you might feel like eating stones.