What Kind Of Clay Does Shailene Woodley Eat?

Shailene Woodley always captivates viewers with her magnificent acting chops. Known for her prominent roles in the TV show "Big Little Lies," the dystopian action-drama movie "Divergent," and the tearjerking romance film "The Fault in Our Stars" (via IMDb), Woodley has graced a wide variety of shows and movies with her presence.

In addition to her acting career and her split with Aaron Rodgers, the movie and TV star has received plenty of attention for her quirky persona. For instance, Woodley shocked countless fans when she admitted that she eats clay! She explained why she initially started consuming this unique snack to Into The Gloss, saying, "I first heard about the benefits of eating clay from a taxi driver. He was African and was saying that, where he's from, the women eat clay when they're pregnant." 

The actress went on to say, "So, I've discovered that clay is great for you because your body doesn't absorb it, and it apparently provides a negative charge, so it bonds to negative isotopes. And, this is crazy: It also helps clean heavy metals out of your body." We never would have thought about eating clay before, but Woodley seems to enjoy it.

Shailene Woodley made it clear to Into The Gloss that while she believes in eating clay, she doesn't consume just any type. The actress explained: "When you first start eating clay, your bowel movements, pee, and even you, yourself, will smell like metal. You should obviously be careful about your source. Bentonite clay is good, but Mountain Rose Herbs has a great clay source. I get all of my herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs, too." Who would've guessed that eating clay can make you smell like metal? Mountain Rose Herbs is an Oregon-based organic agriculture business that seems to place a lot of emphasis and importance on ethics and sustainability. Mountain Rose Herbs sells Bentonite clay, as Woodley mentioned in her interview. While Woodley seems to like eating this clay, the website doesn't seem to recommend doing so, stating: "Though indigenous cultures have used this clay internally for wellness, our bentonite clay is sold for external use only."

After reading this, we were curious whether or not it's really healthy to consume clay.

While Shailene Woodley believes that eating clay benefits her body, medical sources seem to disagree, as they don't recommend consuming clay in the United States. "Clay is possibly unsafe when taken by mouth for a long period of time," according to WebMD. The medical site noted that it may be unsafe because it can lessen your levels of iron and potassium and lead to other dangerous outcomes, some of which include lead poisoning, intestinal blockage, and even issues with breathing. 

However, in certain parts of the world, eating clay is believed to help with zinc deficiency. "Eating clay — sometimes in tablet form — is common in parts of Africa and the Middle East," said Rick Wilson, director of nutrition and dietetics at King's College Hospital (via BBC).

Furthermore, according to NPR, people have been eating clay since pre-Columbian times in the Andean area. An agronomist by the name of Alberto Salas noted that there is an ancestral connection to eating clay as doing so could have made it safer to consume wild potatoes, and this idea may have initially come from animals that were already eating clay.