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The two words are similar but their differences are fundamental to understanding how Bentonite clay minerals function and how healing clay works. Adsorption describes the process by which the charged particles of other substances combine with the charged particles on the outer surface of the clay molecule.  First imagine the structure of the clay molecule to be similar to a stack of business cards with spaces in between the cards. The clay molecule has unsatisfied ionic bonds around its edges and naturally seeks to satisfy those bonds. For this to happen it must come into contact with a molecule of another substance with unsatisfied bonds that carry an opposite electrical (ionic) charge. When the two molecules meet, the ions held on the outer surface of the clay molecule are exchanged with the ions held on the outside surface of the molecule of the other substance. 

Bentonite clay molecules carry a negative electrical charge while toxins, bacteria, viruses, parasites and other impurities carry a positive charge. When the clay is taken into the human body, the positively charged toxins are attracted to the negatively charged surfaces of the clay molecule. The clay molecule acts like a magnet, attracting and holding the toxins and impurities to its surface, and removing them when the clay is removed or expelled.

Absorption is a slower and more complex process. Acting like a sponge, the Bentonite clay molecule draws other substances into its internal structure. Absorption can only occur when the foreign substance has undergone a chemical change and is then allowed to enter the clay’s molecular inner structure. Once the foreign substance has undergone the chemical change, it enters into the spaces between the clay’s inner structures. So the toxins that were formerly only sticking to the surface of the clay’s outer structure through ionic bonding, are now pulled inside the clay molecule. This is the primary reason why absorptive clays are labeled as mobile layered or expandable clays. The more substances that are pulled into the clay’s inner structure, the more the clay expands and its layers swell.  

All absorbent clays have a charge on their inner layers. This means that charged ions sit between the layers of the clay molecule surrounded by water molecules. The clay expands as foreign substances are absorbed and fill the spaces between the clay molecule’s stacked layers. Absorbent clay will absorb positively charged toxins and impurities and ignore negatively charged nutrients.  Calcium Bentonite clay is by far the most effective clay, with the strongest drawing power.

For information on where to purchase clay, please visit our Clay Sources page (CLICK HERE).