Shailene Woodley Thinks You Should Eat Clay

May 2, 2014— -- intro: Shailene Woodley is passionate about her natural way of life.

The 23-year-old "Divergent" star speaks with zeal about sustainable living, natural herbal remedies and homemade beauty products.

"As a teenager, I started researching factory farming and genetically engineered foods and agriculture, and I found myself asking, 'What's the point of environmentalism if we keep separating ourselves from nature?'" she told the latest issue of Natural Health magazine. "The message was, 'We've gotta save the Earth!' when, in reality, we are nature and we are the Earth."

Woodley continued, "As human beings, we're just another creature. But luckily, we're gifted with consciousness and a mind that can manufacture change. If we plan to save the planet, we have to start with ourselves."

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Not only is Woodley starting with herself, but she has no problem sharing her lifestyle with others.

"I think everything about my lifestyle is fairly alternative," she told Flaunt magazine in August. "I gather my own spring water from mountains every month. I go to a farm to get my food. I make everything from my own toothpaste to my own body lotions and face oils. ... I make my own medicines; I don't get those from doctors. I make my own cheese and forage wild foods and identify wild plants. It's an entire lifestyle. It's appealing to my soul."

Keep reading for some of Woodley's advice on living naturally.

quicklist:title: Be a Sovereign Humantext: "People have told me my thinking on this is kind of post-apocalyptic, but I think it's important to be a sovereign human in today's world because there are so many things we don't know," Woodley told Natural Health. "Take GMO foods - I don't necessarily think they're great for us, but I could be wrong; we just don't know yet. Regardless, the fact that we are not allowed to know what's in our food is huge. For me, having my basic necessities covered and being able to take care of myself is reassuring. If the power goes out, I know how to make a fire and where a water source is and how to find my own food."

quicklist:title: Check Out What's in Your Backyardtext: "When I started researching agriculture in America, I thought, 'People say meat's bad for me, but so are vegetables because of pesticides, but I can't afford organic.' Ahhhh! So I decided to research what Native American cultures ate in Southern California, as well as other indigenous cultures from around the world," Woodley told Natural Health. "I found that not only were they hunter-gatherers, they were also healers who relied on the plants around them. I thought that was really profound, so I started learning about all the wild plants in my area, as well as all of the wild medicines that I could gather and create for myself. I was in control of my body, and I could feel what was happening. It was eye-opening."

quicklist:title: Eat Claytext: "Clay is one of the best things you can put in your body," Woodley told beauty website Into the Gloss One in March. "I've discovered that clay is great for you because your body doesn't absorb it, and it apparently provides a negative charge, so it bonds to negative isotopes. And, this is crazy: it also helps clean heavy metals out of your body. My friend starting eating it and the next day she called me and said, 'Dude, my s*** smells like metal.' She was really worried, but we did some research together and everything said that when you first start eating clay, your bowel movements, pee, and even you, yourself, will smell like metal. You should obviously be careful about your source."

quicklist:title: Sunbathe Nudetext: Woodley also prefers to sunbathe nude to provide a little sun to her nether regions. "Another thing I like to do is give my vagina a little vitamin D," Woodley told Into the Gloss with a laugh. "I was reading an article written by an herbalist I studied about yeast infections and other genital issues. She said there's nothing better than vitamin D. If you're feeling depleted, go in the sun for an hour and see how much energy you get. Or, if you live in a place that has heavy winters, when the sun finally comes out, spread your legs and get some sunshine."

quicklist:title: Make Your Teeth Whiter Naturallytext: "You can do something called 'oil pulling' where you swish coconut or sesame oil in your mouth when you wake up and spit it out. It's amazing!" Woodley told Into the Gloss. "It really makes your teeth whiter, because the plaque on your teeth is not water soluble, it's fat-soluble. So the lipids have to dissolve in fats, which is why oil works in your mouth. I prefer sesame oil, but they're both good."