The legislation does not recommend that this type of clay be used internally, although no studies have shown that consuming such a clay is dangerous. Our own analyses performed by an independent laboratory on a water + clay mixture tend to prove that lead cannot be assimilated because we would need to be able to digest minerals (stones) in order for that to happen. That said, we cannot legally recommend such usage on our packaging.
For information purposes, our ground clay is used solely for thick and external poultices.
Our Denticlay products contain essential oils and you are advised to check for any allergies you might have beforehand.
Clay is a natural product, meaning that it can display variations in colour. The colour has no effect on the properties of the clay.
The colour of a clay depends solely on the pigment it contains (more often than not metal oxide) and not on the structural quality that gives it its unique properties.
There are yellow, pink, green, etc. montmorillonites, for example, all of which are still montmorillonites and offer the same associated properties.
The transformation process used to create a powdered product does not affect the colour or the natural properties of the ore. The clay is simply dried using natural gas.
No clay is completely free of heavy metals, but the lead cannot be absorbed. That said, we do carry out analyses in order to remove the batches containing the highest levels from the chain.
Skin reactions (redness, tingling, small spots, etc.) may occur from time to time because our montmorillonite clay is very active. These reactions should disappear quickly. If this is not the case, cease application.
In order for a clay to be recognised as ‘medicinal’ it must have active therapeutic properties, which can be achieved thanks to its ability to exchange the ions it contains (trace elements) for external elements, such as toxins or substances that are contrary to life.
In reality, very few clays can be truly active since they must belong to the smectite family (to which montmorillonites belong) in order for this to be the case.
These are rare clays that will have taken millions of years to form, requiring very specific climatic and geological conditions that are rarely found on the Earth’s surface.
Clay plays a key role in the very origin of life and served as a model for the development of the first organic molecules (see the book of Genesis in the Bible).
Its layered molecular structure means that clay has the capacity to absorb elements that are contrary to life (such as toxins or morbid matter), whereby it binds them and prevents them from being released. Clay also has the ability to provide elements that are conducive to life (the trace elements it contains), which is why it is advisable not to reuse the clay but rather to throw it away once soiled (since it cannot be washed and reused).
There is a very precise technical method that involves measuring the amount of trace elements that the clay can exchange per 100g in terms of ‘milliequivalents per 100g’ or ‘meq/100g’. Users of medicinal clays should take this into account when it comes to selecting such a clay.
There are, in fact, all sorts of clays on the market that are purported to be medicinal but are in fact just ordinary clays of little therapeutic value (which unscrupulous manufacturers try to sell on a more lucrative market). The only purpose they serve is to ‘mop up’, which a piece of cotton wool would do just as well. If this measurement in meq/100g is not stated on the packaging then there is every chance that it is, in fact, an ordinary clay commonly known as ‘pottery clay’.
Ordinary clay is a very common and therefore very cheap material, whereas a truly medicinal clay is relatively expensive due to its rarity, which is why it is important to be particularly careful if the price is very appealing.
For a clay to have any truly therapeutic properties it should have an ion exchange value of at least 70meq/100g.
Anyone can practice the ancient method of sun drying for their own purposes, but it is important to realise that a true medicinal clay is not a common clay since it belongs to a family of rare clays (known as bentonites) – a factor that isn’t always taken into account by various traders for economic reasons, given that scarcity always comes at a cost!
The health status of products that are brought to market must, however, meet a series of very strict bacteriological criteria.
The clay is dried in a rotary kiln at a relatively high temperature in order to dry it and eliminate any bacteria so that it is clean and therefore suitable to be placed on the market. Furthermore, every batch of superior and ventilated clay is checked on arrival.
Even in our region, which enjoys a good deal of sun and wind, it is not possible for producers to sun-dry the clay themselves, and even less so, of course, in an oceanic climate, since one of the properties of bentonite (so-called medicinal clay) is that it retains water. Natural exposure, which is not alone sufficient to properly eliminate any bacteria in the clay, also creates a certain amount of dirt as a result of particles in the air, meaning that it would be impossible to place such a clay on the market without running the risk of the product being withdrawn by the authorities.