Food grade diatomaceous earth has many uses and excellent health benefits for humans, plants, and animals. Diatomaceous earth is used for internal and external parasite control and studies have shown DE is one of the greatest detoxifiers.
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We buy our Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth in bulk and bag it out in 1lb bags
Our diatomaceous earth is organic OMRI listed Codex Food Chemical Grade. It is a non-treated, non-calcined fresh water Diatomaceous Earth. It is mined, crushed, sifted, bagged and pure white in color. It contains less than .5% silicon. There are food grade diatomaceous earth products that are yellow or tan in color which indicates a higher iron content. Those which are gray in color contain more clay. It is very important to obtain only food grade diatomaceous earth when feeding or using in and around your household.
What is Diatomaceous Earth?
Food grade diatomaceous earth has many uses and excellent health benefits for humans, plants, and animals. Food grade diatomaceous earth works in a purely physical/mechanical manner, not "chemical" and thus has no chemical toxicity.
Diatomaceous earth (DE) is the remains of microscopic one-celled plants (phytoplankton) called diatoms that lived in the oceans and lakes that once covered the western part of the US and other parts of the world. These deposits are mined from underwater beds or from ancient dried lake bottoms thousands of years old. This means, diatomaceous earth has an unlimited shelf life provided you keep it dry.
Diatoms (DE) are the grass of the oceans and lakes. Just as grass is the staple food of earth animals. Diatoms (algae) are the food of the ocean or fresh water grazers. Magnified 7000x, diatomaceous earth looks like spiney honeycombs.
Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth is mined from the purest of deposits. Out of 600 deposits in the U.S., only 4 of these deposits rate in purity by FDA standards to be labeled as "Food Grade."
Diatomaceous earth is USDA approved as an anti-caking agent for animal feed. Diatomaceous earth is FDA approved for internal and external use and has a rating of Food Chemical Codex Grade.
Kittens - 1/2 teaspoon
Cats - 1 teaspoon
Puppies - 1/2 to 1 tsp.
Dogs under 35 lbs. - 1 teaspoon
Dogs over 35 lbs. - 1 tablespoon
Dogs over 100 lbs. - 2 tablespoons
Cattle, Dairy Cows, & Hogs - 2% of dry feed ration
Chickens - 5% in feed
Goats, Sheep, Alpacas, & Llamas - 2% in grain
Zoo animals - 2% in daily feed
*Humans - 1 - 3 heaping tablespoon daily
Internal
Natural food grade diatomaceous earth contains 15 trace minerals: calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, copper, zinc, iron, phosphorous, selenium, etc.
Diatomaceous earth is used for internal and external parasite control and studies have shown DE is one of the greatest detoxifiers. Food grade diatomaceous earth has been reported in scientific literature to absorb methyl mercury, e-coli, endotoxins, viruses (including polio virus), organophosphate pesticide residues, drug resides, and protein, perhaps even the proteinaceous toxins produced by some intestinal infections. Its molecular and porous structure has the ability to attract and trap heavy metals and toxins. There are some features about food grade diatomaceous earth that correspond with its ability as both a digestive aid and a colon cleanser. The honeycomb skeletal form of diatomaceous earth is found, under microscopic evaluation to reveal a tendency to become filled and clogged with hard debris such as intestinal scale. Food grade diatomaceous earth has not been found to cause any insult to the mucosa or barrier wall.
Diatomaceous earth has a negative charge and bacteria has a positive charge, wherein it is believed by some that food grade diatomaceous earth sweeps bacteria out of the body by trapping it in its honeycomb shaped skeletal form.
As a weight loss accelerator, Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth dissolves the excess weight and keeps the bad cholesterol levels down. When the fat stored in cells gets burned more rapidly, the entire body starts to drop weight more naturally and easily.
Blood pressure levels are known to be decreased by DE consumption and the high silica level in DE makes it a great supplement for your skin and hair. Silica is known to be one of the most effective anti-aging minerals.
Food grade diatomaceous earth kills most worms/parasites in 7 to 14 days. However, In order to be most effective, food grade diatomaceous earth must be fed long enough to catch all newly hatching eggs or cycling of the worms through the lungs and back to the stomach. A minimum of 60 days is suggested by many, 90 days is advised for lungworms.
Internal feeding of food grade diatomaceous earth helps eliminate most internal worms, including roundworms, pin worms, tapeworms, etc. It's also excellent when fed daily to keep down fly loads, since food grade diatomaceous earth is eliminated from the body, exactly the way it went in, it helps reduce the manure odor and kills flies that come in contact with it. Mix in animal feed or grain and/or feed free choice.
If fecal counts are not zero for worms and ova after feeding DE for 30 days, increase the daily dose. Feeding too small a dose of DE will not give desired results. Increasing the dose, even if greater than the above recommendations, will not harm anyone. One 75lb animal may do good with 1 tablespoon while another 75lb animal may need 2 tablespoons. We are all different and we all absorb and digest differently. So again, if the worm and ova counts are not zero, increase your daily dose.
We usually start with the recommended dose and slowly over a couple of weeks start increasing until we get to the desired amount. This way we make sure we are not going to have a heavy detox. We also feed for minimum of 90 days. Once you start feeding/consuming DE you don’t want to stop or take any breaks until at least the 30 day mark otherwise the infestation of dead dying worms which emit bacteria and toxins can cause a toxic overload, which can make animals or people sicker.
When you know you are dealing with a worm infestation or tapeworms in particular, we believe that it is best to at least double the recommended dosage as suggested above by the manufacturer. Remember, the diatomaceous earth MUST come in contact with the worms in order to "dehydrate" them and since worms can kill us or our pets and at the very least, cause disease, more is better to prevent having to deal with disease or death. Also, if you are dealing with a flea problem you need to make sure you are feeding diatomaceous earth non stop until the fleas are gone. You are getting rid of the tapeworms but they will keep coming back because of the fleas so you want a continual flush.
External
Diatomaceous earth kills anything with an exoskeleton like fleas, ticks, mites, silverfish, roaches, bedbugs, earwigs, carpet beetles, centipedes, crickets, millipedes and ants. Diatomaceous Earth clings easily to bodies of insects as they walk or crawl over it. It absorbs/slices the waxy cuticle surrounding the insect, causing the insect to dehydrate and die. It works like a chemical but it’s NOT, so they cannot become immune/resistant to it like they do to a chemical.
Application consists of spreading it like pepper all over your home working it over your entire floor, under baseboards, couches, refrigerators and in all cracks and crevices. We personally just use our hands to spread it but there are dusters available or you could even use a powdered sugar shaker.
DE is a very fine powder which makes a fine dust in the air so you may want to wear a mask so you don't irritate your passageways. It is a messy product but it works. Once you have spread it, you just leave it down. It is safe for you and your pets to walk on. We recommend vacuuming at least every 3-5 days to stay on top of the problem. When you think that you’ve vacuumed up all the DE put more down and when you think the pest are gone do it again to make sure you get all the egg cycles! Just remember a little bit goes a long way so you don’t need a lot on the floor, one pound covers about 2400 sqft. Trust us we have used too much before and ruined our vacuum. Also remember that DE is a drying agent so it does dry out skin and hair but as we always say get rid of the pest and deal with dry skin as you go. If you are dealing with fleas then also make sure you are feeding it to your pets because they will have tapeworms from the fleas and the DE will get rid of them.
Deodorizing and absorption are natural functions of diatomaceous earth, so add to kitty litter to absorb odors and keep the litter box drier. Apply to moist kennel areas to reduce odors and dry the area.
Cautions:
