Indian labourer eats mud balls sprinkled with red bricks

Indian labourer eats mud balls sprinkled with red bricks

An Indian villager has revealed his love for Ferrero-Rocher inspired 'mud balls' - coated in pieces of broken bricks.

Bizarre visuals show Kamleshwar, 45, a migrant labourer, snacking on mud and bricks with bread for lunch.

He goes from place to place in search of his daily meals and spends hours looking for the finest mud. He then mixes water into it to give them shape of balls the size of Ferrero Rocher chocolate.

Look: Kamleshwar shows the inside of his mouth as chews the mud ball

Lunch: The Pica eating disorder sufferer shows his concoction 

Preparation: Kamleshwar smashes a brick. He will add pieces to the mud ball 

He then smashes bricks with his hands to coat them with, for an odd cherry on top. 

In a day, Kamleshwar stomachs at least 500 grams of his bizarre take on food, but claims he has experienced no ill effects of the habit and says his teeth are in good condition, even flashing the inside of his mouth in the video. 

'I love mud and bricks. There is nothing else that I would eat with my chapati. Nothing else would satisfy my hunger, certainly not vegetables or lentils,' says Kamleshwar.

Despite his insistence that eating mud mixed with brick had done him no harm he displays symptoms of the Pica eating disorder that is characterised by the desire to eat items with little or no nutritional value.

Pica sufferers usually eat stones, sand, paint and dirt. They also run the risk of being poisoned and not gaining enough essential nutrients in their diet.  

The labourer from Haridwar - an ancient city and important Hindu pilgrimage site in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand, first developed a taste for the seemingly uneatable objects at the age of 28 after accidentally eating mud to control pain in his mouth.

'I have been eating mud and brick particles for around 17 years now.

'I started this eating habit at the age of 28 and it has become a part of my life now. I have never suffered any illness due to my eating habits.

Taste: The laborer eats the snack with bread every day 

Health: Although he claims the dish has done him no harm he displays symptoms associated with the Pica eating disorder 

'Almost two decades ago I was suffering from a disease wherein blood used to come out of my mouth.

'I visited several doctors but they told me there is no cure to this disease.

'I was in lot of pain once and accidentally ate mud. Surprisingly, not only I felt relieved but I did not feel anything wrong with my stomach even after continuously eating mud for some weeks.

'I realised the unknown disease that had been troubling me for days had gone. There was no blood coming out from my mouth,' Kamleshwar added. 

'My eating habits have no side effects. My teeth are absolutely fine, so there is no question for me to stop eating the mud.

'I can skip meals, but not mud,' said the labour who makes less than £4 a day and lives on the streets of Haridwar.  

WHAT IS PICA?

Pica is an eating disorder that is characterised by the desire to eat items with little or no nutritional value - including sand, stones, paint or dirt

Pica is an eating disorder that is characterised by the desire to eat items with little or no nutritional value.

These can include stones, sand, paint and dirt.

It is most common in people with learning disabilities and during pregnancy.

It can cause a range of serious complications if the person is eating something that is poisonous or indigestible.

These include being poisoned by toxic ingredients and having a part of the body obstructed (which is often seen in people who eat hair).

It can also lead to excessive calorie intake, b ut also nutritional deprivation if the person eats a substance with no nutritional value instead of nutritious foods.

The person can also damage their teeth and be infected with parasites.

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