We are close to the end of a glorious school holiday, winter, beach break with coastal walks, wood fires and nature surrounding us. Getting down the coast is something that Mr Surfer Dude and I love more than anything. And now our kids do too. We’ve been picking up shells, foraging around and unplugging. It’s the perfect lead in to this week’s post on a rather unusual, emerging food fad. So over to our guest expert and some holiday snaps for you.
About our expert:
Katherine Baqleh is owner and founder of Health Victory Nutrition Experts, and can be found actively sharing health and wellness advice through various media platforms. She is also a motivating and engaging public speaker and regularly conducts health presentations and programs in the community. Her vision is to improve community access to evidence-based, practical, bite sized chunks of nutrition advice. Find Health Victory Nutrition Experts on Facebook, Twitter: @KatherineBaqleh and LinkedIn.
Let me start by sharing with you a list of ingredients from a pancake recipe I found recently: sugar, egg, fossil shell flour, vanilla essence, milk. Yes, you read it right. Fossil shell flour. Described as, “Mother Nature’s safest cleanse for people, pets and the environment”, it’s starting to catch on as a new health food trend. I couldn’t wait to investigate further….is it just another fad or does it really hold some weight?
What is Fossil Shell Flour?
Food Grade Fossil Shell Flour Diatomaceous Earth can be ordered online, with 1kg suggested to last 3-4 months, costing an average $22. It is an all-natural product made from tiny fossilised water plants containing 84% silicon dioxide (silica), a trace micronutrient also found in foods such as beer, banana, bran cereal and green beans.
What are the claims to fame?
According to its manufacturers, fossil shell flour works in the body in 3 ways: 1 – It attracts, absorbs, traps then eliminates toxins out of the body, including ‘shredding and killing’ larger parasites lingering in the stomach. 2- As a ‘scrubber’ for the large and small intestines – where its hardness of 7 (diamonds are a 9) cleans the mucus and mould off your intestines to improve nutrient absorption, and promotes bowel regularity. 3- Absorbed into the blood stream as pure silica that destroys bad fats, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure quite significantly.
I personally don’t like the comparison of our digestive systems as an unmaintained sewerage pipe and I certainly didn’t hear about the need for a gut “scrubber” in my five year university degree.
What about the role of silica?
Silica has long been known to have benefits for hair, skin, and nails and the human body actually stores around 7g, which is more than other minerals such as iron. According to a 2007 study published in the Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, silica has been recognised as an essential component to skeletal and neurological function and status. With the increasing prevalence of osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s Disease, where the health importance of silica is relevant, we may indeed to look for more concentrated sources of silica.
But fossil shell powder seems to have run with some pretty strong claims from head to toe – a pain reliever, cure for arthritis, reliever of constipation, a cure for toe fungus, and many more, as you have read above. Besides, in Australia, with concerns about sources and purity levels, Food Grade Fossil Shell Flour has only been approved for sale as an Anti-Caking Agent and animal feed (unlike the USA and Canada that have food grade approved fossil shell flour). Until there are scientific research trials on the benefits of Fossil Shell Flour, I think I’ll be telling my clients to stick to trusted and nutritious food sources of silica. But I wonder what the future will hold….
Editor’s comment:
Thanks so much Katherine! I’m very keen to try it purely to see how it tastes or performs in baking. I’m open to our oceans as a new source of food, especially sustainable seafood, kelp and other sea vegetables…so you never know….fossil shell flour could be indeed our gluten free, future flour! What do you think Scoop lovelies?
