I Ate 1kg of Mud Everyday For 15 years.
Know These 5 Lessons Before Eating Mud
Pica? No.
In my country, we have this stone formed deep within the earth’s bowels called atapele or ulo. When diggers dig up sand for wells for water, they unearth a lot of these peculiar atapele. Left out in the sun, they harden, turn from red or milky colours, become ashy and we eat them.
For over 7 years, I ate atapele before I was told it could be dangerous. An uncle told me it was not healthy for consumption. I did not listen to his logic and science. If it was dangerous, why was it sold in the market? Yeah, teenage me was verrry smart.
When I left the university and started working, I would stop by the market on my way from work, load up about a kg of atapele, get to the house and mindlessly munch on it while I went about my business. For a while, 1kg would last 3–4 days but soon, I went through a kg within an hour or 2.
One day I woke up at about 1 AM in panic. When my mind could think, I realized I was woken up by a hunger for atapele. It would have been a non issue if I had not yet exhausted my stash. It was horrible. I was sweating profusely. To take away my mind from this unfamiliar pain and panic, I had to punch the wall several times with my fist until it bled. The stinging pain provided distraction to let me go back to sleep.
The next day, I was honest with myself:
“Hi, my name is Okwy and I am an addict”.
But, how do you tell anyone that you are an addict? In Africa? Addicted to mud? Addicted to mud, sold in the market? Get out of here. You will be called a drama llama.
Addictions are stigmatized severally and discussed only in hushed tones.
I knew something was wrong but I did not know how to stop. For the next 5 years (yes, you read that right), I remained a mud addict until a bet with a friend made me go cold turkey. I have been mud free since then.
I don’t know what your own mud is but, here are 5 things I wish I knew before I ever ate my first slice of mud:
- Not everything sold in the market for consumption is healthy. And just because everyone else eats it, it does not mean that it is healthy.
- Getting started down a bad path is all fun and games until you get hooked on something very destructive.
- When you find yourself eating a kg of anything that isn’t vegetables or drinking a kg of liquid that isn’t water, on a daily basis, watch out.
- People who love you (eg family/friends), may be ignorant of your struggle or how to help.
- Addiction is strong but until you get honest with yourself about your need for help, you will only harm yourself longer.
Do you struggle with addiction or did you beat an addiction? What has been your biggest takeaway?
My name is Adaobi Okwy. Please turn on Email Notification for my next post. Also, Buy me coffee?
