Diatomaceous Earth: Bug Killer You Can Eat!

By PAUL WHEATON

I’ve been eating about a tablespoon of this stuff every day for a month. I don’t feel any different yet. But apparently it is supposed to take several months until the benefits become noticable. I’ve heard from several sources that consuming diatomaceous earth will:
– add years to your lifespan
– make your hair thicker and grow faster
– make you appear ten years younger as your skin becomes clearer
– reduce the amount of gray hair
– reduce/eliminate acne
– nails are stronger and grow faster
– stronger teeth and gums
– improved lung function
– eliminate parasites
– gobs more

I don’t have any problems in this space, but I do find myself recommending diatomaceous earth for a lot of other uses, and there seems to be a lot of fear built up around it. So, I plan to eat a lot of it so I can say “I once ate a pound of the stuff over a three month period and it made me healthier.”

Usually, I suggest diatomaceous earth as a form of insect control. I’ve used diatomaceous earth to control fleas, ants, ants with aphidsflea beetles and carpenter ants. After writing some articles a few years ago, I have heard back from people all over the world that diatomaceous earth is the best thing in the world for controlling bed bugs, roaches, and nearly every bug and spider ever.

Nothing is better at controlling insects. And this stuff is edible. In fact, it is probably in the food you eat now. Nearly every grain you buy has some diatomaceous earth in it. Grains are usually stored with some diatomacous earth to kill the bugs that would otherwise eat the grain, and, in turn, poop on our delicious grain.

Diatomaceous earth is a dessicant – you know …. the stuff in the little packets that says “do not eat”. Only you can eat this stuff. This is how it kills bugs – it sticks to the bugs and turns them into bug jerky.

There are also dozens of uses for DE as a cleaner, a deodorizer, a “personal powder” … farmers use it as an organic de-wormer for their animals.

The uses for diatomaceous earth goes on and on. And that’s just for what we know so far. If it were used more often, I suppose we would find even more uses for it. The only downside I can think of is that a lot of chemical companies will feel pain when more people know about this stuff.

Gimmie!

Oh yeah, this stuff is freaky cheap. It’s a really light powder, so five pounds is quite a lot! But it is already millions of years old, so it has excellent shelf life. Get lots.

When shopping for diatomaceous earth, make sure that you get “food grade diatomaceous earth.” To qualify as “food grade” it must have less than 3% “cyrstaline silica”. But since there can be problems with crystaline silica, you want to get that number much lower if possible. The lowest I have ever found is about 0.1% to 0.2% crystaline silica from this source.*

If you want to know more, please have a look at my big article on diatomaceous earth. Or come visit the forum thread on diatomaceous earth.

*(please note: if you actually buy stuff on these links, the vendors will lavish paul with love, kisses and actual cash money).
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BIO: Paul Wheaton is is the tyrannical ruler of two on-line communities. One is about permaculture and one is about software engineering. There is even one for Missoula. Paul has written several permaculture articles starting with one on lawn care that he presented at the MUD Project 17 years ago, including articles on raising chickenscast iron and diatomaceous earth. Paul also regularly uploads permaculture videos and permaculture podcasts. In his spare time, Paul has plans for world domination and is currently shopping for a hollowed out volcano in the Missoula area, with good submarine access.

See all of Paul’s contributions to MakeitMissoula on this Blog Homepage here.