This is PART FOUR of a SIX PART Interview series.  

Dr. Eugene Zampieron, ND interviewed Ran Knishinsky, author of Healing with Clay: A Practical Guide to Earth’s Oldest Natural Remedy about the health benefits of edible clay.   -     -

Dr Z: I know from many cleanses on people. I remember after 9/11 we (University of Bridgeport Naturopathic College) had one of the first evidence-based detoxification clinics for some of the 9/11 veterans, many of them who did very well and don’t have cancer. Whereas as many of the colleagues that didn’t detoxify did. And we used sauna as a big part of detoxification. But then we also worked on promoting the excretion of the toxins through the body, through the fats, which then get into the lymphatics, which then eventually become part of the liver filtering. Then the liver detoxifies itself through the bile and then the bile gets squirted out into the intestine. And that bile is really what contains all the toxins that these poor 9/11 First Responders were exposed to. We sent stool and sweat samples to the laboratory. You can show that these poisons were coming out, sebaceous secretions. And, through the feces. You need something to bind those toxins or else they get reabsorbed back into the system, back into the bloodstream, back into the lymphatics, back into the liver and the liver must deal with them all over again. They call this enterohepatic recirculation of enteric toxins. That’s the fancy medical word for it that has been talked about by the world-renowned William Rey. We had him on the show many times talking about his environmental detoxification clinics. They used some type of binding substrate for the bowels.

What’s the first book that wrote on the clay?

 RK: The book was called The Clay Cure published in 1998.

 Dr. Z: And what has happened in the marvelous world of clay since 1998?

 RK: In the marvelous world of dirt, things have gotten pretty dirty. Over the last 2 decades the amount of scientific validation which supports the use of edible clay has just grown by leaps and bounds. It’s difficult at this point to contest that clay actually works in the system. There are a number of independent, as I mentioned before, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials that involve clay, which is terrific. This is the same type of trials that we use to evaluate pharmaceutical drugs. I spent a lot of time in the pharmaceutical drug industry leading the commercialization of several well-known brands that have done over half a billion dollars of revenue per year. I can tell you; I take a strong liking to clay and to the research that I see, which is now showing the health benefits of consuming clay. 

Dr. Z: So, you’re doing it more as a mineral to give you all the trace minerals or you doing for daily detoxification? 

RK: It’s for detoxification. You had talked earlier about enterotoxins and there has been clinical research showing clay’s ability to absorb those types of toxins. There is research showing clay’s ability to absorb herbicides and pesticides such as Paraquat, which has recently made its way into the news with a large class-action lawsuit against the company that developed the product.  

Dr. Z: A Parkinsons like syndrome? 

RK: Yes. Research has shown that toxins produced by microorganisms secreted by food and water-borne bacteria such as staphylococci are absorbed by clay – as well, as e.coli. There is research with h.pylori which is thought to be the cause of the common ulcer. And toxins associated with grilling our foods at high temperatures. So, we’re absorbing an onslaught of toxins on a daily basis. There is a lot of research on, this is a fancy word, the secondary metabolites that grow on vegetables and grains that we eat. And so, what that means, fungus is growing on, let’s just say wheat, there are toxins there in the mycotoxin family which include the highly carcinogenic aflatoxin that we eat. Here in the industrial world, we might not be as affected by it, but if you were to live in, say, sub-Saharan Africa, its effects can be absolutely devastating. Where the quality of the crop is low and the amount of toxins growing on those crops is extremely high and can contribute to sickness and death.  

Dr. Z: Yea, we talk about history, I remember in reviewing medieval history, people would eat the ergot which is Claviceps purpurea fungi that grew on the secale cornutum, which is Latin for rye. Poor people would eat the rye that had maybe got wet – and of course the aristocracy ate the bleached rye, which was probably not wet, probably the bleaching process killed the fungus. When the lower class at the rye, they would actually trip out because it turns out that Claviceps produces ergotamine which is a known alkaloidal toxin similar to structure as LSD. They would have what’s called St Anthony’s Fire, which would cause this horrific burning in their extremities, and they would actually lose their limbs. It was just terrible. That’s from one of those aflatoxins that you are talking about. Yea, fungal toxins is big. People that drink alcohol every day, you point this out in your book, they’re being exposed to a toxin. Alcohol is a fungal toxin.  

RK: Clay has also been shown to possess strong anti-bacterial activity against a variety of multi- drug resistant pathogens in the laboratory. Clay has really shown to be an effective absorbent. I would be remiss if I didn’t include parasites such as roundworm and hookworm.  

Dr. Z: It won’t kill them. What does it do to the parasites because it’s not sidal to the parasites.  

RK: It binds them. I encourage your listeners…all of this research is available, for the most part, free of charge, online at clinical trials.gov or Academia. Your listeners can read and learn about the trials directly, about the different type of clays, we talked about them before: smectite, chlorite, kaolinite, illite, rectorite, kisameet, etc. And understand how they work in the body and how they differ from one another. It’s absolutely fascinating. 

Read PART FIVE: Interview between Dr. Z and Healing with Clay Author Ran Knishinsky or listen here: https://thenaturalnurse.podbean.com/e/the-natural-nurse-and-dr-z-040522/