Following up on the recent story about a man with a pea plant growing in his lung, Fortean Times posted a selection of ten strange items that folks have intentionally eaten. I’ve posted previously about pica — a rare psychological disorder that causes an appetite for soil, coal, paper, or other traditionally non-food items — and these are some really unusual examples of odd ingestions, not all of which are pica-related. From FT:
Coins
“He likes eating coins”, explained a French surgeon at Cholet General Hospital, after treating a 62-year-old patient who, in 2002, was found to have swallowed 350 coins, an assortment of necklaces and several needles. The ingested mass, weighing 5.5kg (the equivalent of a bowling ball), was so heavy that it had pushed the man’s stomach between his hips. The man suffered from pica, a word derived from the Latin for magpie to describe a compulsion to eat unusual objects.Engagement ring
When 28-year-old Simon Hooper saw a £1,750 engagement ring he wanted for his long-term girlfriend but couldn’t afford, he swallowed it whilst the jeweller’s back was turned. Dorchester police were unable to fathom the location of the ring until they ran a metal detector over his stomach. He was placed in a cell until nature – despite Hooper’s determined efforts to the contrary – took its course three days later.
“He Ate WHAT? The 10 strangest things anyone’s ever eaten”