A 92-year-old Indian woman who admitted she eats a kilogram of sand every day has amazed doctors with her perfect health. Sudama Devi first ate sand for a bet with friends when she was aged just 10.
But the mother of four, from Kajri Noorpur, became addicted to the grit and now eats a kilogram every day – four plates of it.
She claims the unusual habit, which saw her eat only sand for dinner following her wedding to husband Krishan Kumar, is the reason she has never had to visit a doctor or been hungry.
Devi said: “I eat sand daily, about one kilogram, and three or four times in a day.
“My economic condition is not good but I am fond of eating a good and healthy diet. “I eat sand but it is not like a food.”
She added that the sand was so good when she tried it as a child that she soon made it part of her routine diet.
Devi mixes the sand with water in a glass before drinking it, as well as eating it directly from a metal plate
She said: “I had seven sons and three daughters, but now I have only three sons and one daughter alive. “No one eats sand.
“Before marriage, my father and my brother arranged sand for me.
“And after marriage, my husband Krishan Kumar arranged sand for me.
“When I came first time in my husband’s home, everybody felt surprised to see that a bride eats sand.”
Although Devi has been eating the substance for decades, she doesn’t class sand as “food”.
She said she used to enjoy a good, healthy meal, before she started eating so much sand.
One local from the village described Devi as “fully physically fit”. “She has no disease in her body.”
Doctors said it was surprising that Devi had good fitness and did not suffer any serious illnesses.