Some external benefits of ayilo include removal of poisons as a result of stings or bites from stinging insects, scorpions or snakes. It also removes infections on the skin, maintains soft and glowing skin, it reduces scars from skin, et cetera.

Some internal benefits of ayilo include the re-vitalisation of cells and tissues, assisting in heavy metal and chemical detoxification and supporting nutrient assimilation in the gut.

Some experts have argued that clay should not be eaten but drunk to detox, to balance, to alkalise and to stimulate the body.

Speaking to Mr. Kofi Owusu, a lecturer at the University of Health and Allied Science, Ho, he said that ayilo has no nutritional value. For this reason, he said, “it should not be consumed by pregnant women nor ordinary persons”. He added that there are diverse health complications as a result of ayilo consumption by pregnant mothers.

Ayilo constitutes of toxins such as mercury, lead and micro-organisms such as worms. Micro-organisms in ayilo cause anemia due to their ability to absorb food nutrients such as iron in the body.

Also, pregnant women who crave for ayilo are malnourished due to the less intake of nutritional foods. Thus, the foetus stands the risk of congenital malformation where they are born with deformities such as loss of an arm, eye, or leg.

Mr Owusu stated that some pregnant women experience pica or food craving usually during the first trimester of pregnancy.

Pica is the pattern of eating non-food materials such as paint, dirt, clay and sand whilst food craving is an intense desire to consume a specific kind of food which is different from normal hunger.

The consumption of bentonite clay is said to be pica among some women during pregnancy.

According to Mr. Owusu, some causes of pica among some pregnant women include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, hormonal imbalance, among others.

In an interview, Madam Charity Ashie, a dietician at the Ridge Hospital, Accra, said that individuals who crave for bentonite clay especially pregnant women should consider the unhygienic conditions under which they are sold and abstain from its consumption.

Mr Kofi Owusu noted that women who crave for ayilo during pregnancy can “take in snacks such as plantain chips, roasted maize, sour sop, groundnuts, pineapple and biscuits as alternatives to the consumption of ayilo”.

Madam Ashie noted that the craving for ice block by some pregnant women is better compared to the craving for ayilo. This is because, “ice blocks help to hydrate the body although it is not nutritional”, she stated.