Placentophagy

Thursday, February 19, 2009

A little warning: This is a graphic post.

I'm not quite sure how I came about researching this topic. I just kind stumbled onto it by accident like the Tasseography or Makrud lime post. Somehow when reading about colonialism and Edward Said's theories I wandered into thinking about cannibalism, which prompted a Google search, which piqued my curiosity about what people taste like (pork seems to be the popular answer among serial killers and computers), which led to finding far too many YouTube videos and thus led me to do a long research for the next few days in my spare time when not researching for my school project.

I decided that, heck, this is a food blog. Might as well look at all aspects of food, right? Good enough of a forum as any to talk about these things.

I've taken a few steps too far ahead of you though, so allow me to start again. Placentophagy is the act of mammals eating the placenta after giving birth.

I think most people reading this blog are intelligent people, but still a quick refresher for sake of the argument is in order. The placenta is an ephemeral, highly vascularized organ that attaches developing fetal tissue to the uterine wall. It transfers nutrients to the developing fetus and infant and removes waste to the maternal kidneys. Furthermore it protects itself from the mother's own immune system by producing certain chemicals and hormones that trick the mother's body into a copasetic state. When the mother gives birth the placenta is delivered as well.

In the animal kingdom placentophagy somewhat practical and common, even among herbivores. The animals usually need to eat it for nutrition in order to produce milk for their young. Furthermore, the placenta contains naturally occurring sedatives that reduce the pain that occurs after childbirth. Since a rat or moose can't get a prescription for some codeine, it makes sense they would resort to eating the placenta.

A small number of humans do practice placentophagy. The idea is that it helps prevent postpartum depression. However, its use in Chinese medicines has long been practiced and is still used today.

Technically, this act does file under anthropophagy or cannibalism. It is the consumption of human flesh. Now for the most part cannibalism is practiced in small, scattered groups around the world and the occasional serial killer. These groups of people (minus the killer who is just crazy) practice it in war and in funeral rites as a form of respect.

Yet here seems to be a wave of people trying it out now. The thing is, they aren't doing it from a medical or curative standpoint. Rather, the mother is perfectly jubilant and fine. No, she, and possibly her husband/partner/friends/family wish to partake in her homegrown meal for a specifically radical gourmet purpose. I mean, truffles are hard to come by, but a placenta? Well, there's quite a bit of work involved to get one of those to eat.

Apparently a small movement of people in developed cities and suburbs in Europe and America giving it a try. Don't believe me? YouTube has plenty of videos and you can find a few blog posts of it.

So how do you prepare it? Well, to get one you have to know someone who is pregnant. The hospital is upposed to give you the option of taking the placenta home. I mean, it is YOURS after all. Some cultures bury them, other people (read: hippes) make prints with the placenta and frame them, which actually seems more creepy to me. However, a variety of recipes appear online, from lasagna to cocktails.

Slow food? Organic? Technically this is Slow Food extreme. Nine months to be exact. It's definitely local. You know what went into growing it. If the grower/farmer/source/mom ate a healthy diet of veggies and produce, then it should be healthy to eat. If she only ate McDonalds will it be greasy? If she had a steady diet of pistachios, apples and cream will the placenta have those subtle flavors in the background like a piece of pork can when fed a delicious diet during its life? How many placentas have a slight undertaste of whatever craving the mother has had ("Do I taste pickles and strawberry ice cream in this?"). No animals were harmed or killed so, technically, vegans and vegetarians can eat it.

Personally, I think it's odd... Thing is, very few cultures practice placentophagy. Those that do have utilized it as a part of their traditions for centuries; it's an ingrained part of their way of life. If you aren't a part of that culture, raised in their ideology wherein the practice is a vital signifier for your spiritual, societal, and familial self then you are simply emulating a practice which, across cultures, is unneccessary. If you decide to cook and eat a placenta for the purpose of blatant voyeurism or thrill-seeking the way one drinks snake blood in Thailand then I think you're skirting the realm of taboo.

I'll be honest. The idea grosses me out. Still, who am I to say? If mom and pop really wanna try it, then go crazy. Disease wise there is zero risk in the mother eating it. If the mother has HIV or another blood disease however, she shouldn't serve it to guests.

Some may argue that my opinion doesn't stand to reason. Going out and trying new things! Anthony Bourdain does it! I saw him eat a yak testicle on TV! Well that was a yak testicle. Not a human organ that was attached to your wife/partner and child (I use these terms because you can't buy them at Whole Foods or Kaiser Medical so I assume you have to know who grew it pretty intimately). In essence you are eating a piece of the mother and child. I'm sure there is some new age stuff out there that makes this all holy and whatnot, but I dunno.

Isn't it like mother's milk? Yes, I suppose. In a way. But you have to drink that as all mammals do. And then we stop. Not all animals eat the placenta, and if they do it's because the mother needs the strength and proteins to make milk. People can make a salad with some eggs and pasta.

In my mind, part of me can see reasons why it could make sense to eat it if you wanted. However, I can find no reason why you must, have to, or should. I can think of more reasons you shouldn't. Mainly that yes, you are breaking with societal norms and while I'm all about fighting the machine, sometimes I'm just fine letting it run its rules.

My conclusion is this then: there is no reason, aside from breaking popular social taboo, not to eat it. However, there is no medical proof due to a lack of study on the subject that it can do anything amazing for you either. Given, technically, it is an extremely nutritious piece of tissue and muscle, though it is chalked full of hormones (I guess we'll always complain about hormones in our food). Plus, you can get this nutrition anywhere else just as easy, if not easier. Therefore there is no reason to eat it.

So it comes down to personal opinion.

Ah, but would I? I suppose you are wondering my own position. My answer? Depends. If I were to turn this post into a real research article for publication for my MA or future PhD, then yes. If for just kicks and thrill-seeking? No.

Still, for those of you asking yourselves this question, why is your answer your answer? If you reply, "Because eating a human organ is wrong" then tell me why it is. Then ask yourself what formed the rules and ideas that formed my opinion that this is wrong? You could go down this trail of questioning for hours, but I just want to encourage you all to put some real thought into it. Of course, a simple "It looks way too gross," is perfectly acceptable too. We'll call it a quick practice in sociology and ideas.

Comments on this post are encouraged, so please state or work out your thoughts, or debate there. =)

40 comments:

  1. I think in the cultures that have the tradition of eating the placenta, it may actually be a nutritional requirement. These probably aren't Industrial World neighborhoods with a local grocery store just down the block... maybe Third World jungles, deserts, etc.

    I live in the Industrial World & have a garden & easy access to both grocery meat & whatever my husband & I are lucky to harvest... so I don't have a need or the cultural history to eat placenta.

    BTW, another reason wild animals eat the placenta is that it smells so strongly, so alerts predators that a new born easy-pickins meal is around.

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  2. Even though I have read about placentophagy before, I am still grossed out, sorry. I feel the need to address your statement regarding vegetarians eating placenta--you said that since no animals were killed or hurt there would be no objections from vegetarians or vegans. I must disagree. While for some vegetarians their objection to eating animal products is based on their beliefs regarding animal rights, for others the refusal to eat animal products is based on health and aesthetic concerns. After all, a placenta is still an animal product.

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  3. That was a very interesting read, but I have to go with my initial reaction. Revolting. The thoughts of eating something that grew inside of me (or anyone else) literally makes me nauseous!

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  4. Oh, see, and now I want to vomit up my cheerios :P

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  5. So, my baby's placenta inhibited my body's ability to process sugars, giving me gestational diabetes. I was perfectly happy to get rid of the thing when the baby was born. I'm not a huge fan of organ meat, anyway...

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  6. This is a great posting, Garret. The writing is excellent, and I feel you handle both sides of the argument incredibly well. "Slow food" for sure. I think this would work great as a chapter in a thesis. Or perhaps as an appendix or extended foot note. Too juicy (eh, gross, did not mean the pun) not to include. Particularly if it is becoming a popular, envelope-pushing trend.

    For me? I'll pass. Not out of moral judgment but out of distaste. If I can't make myself eat a chicken liver, don't think I can eat anything out of a person.

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  7. I'm 8 months pregnant and would be more than willing to send you my placenta, though not sure it would make the trip well from Chicago to Northern Cal without a lot of dry ice. You could make a nice soup. I have a pretty healthy diet, but have been craving chocolate and chili dogs. It might have hints of mole.

    Kidding aside, I used to work in a pathology department at a large medical center. I only recall one request for a placenta by a patient. Let's just say it brought up a lot of office discussion.

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  8. Garrett, you are exactly right! Disassociating all social taboos, the placenta is a hunk of protein just like any other piece of meat you buy shrink-wrapped in the grocery store. It should be no grosser than any other organ meat.

    I don't care for organ meats, much.

    One quibble: You say that no animals were harmed nor killed, so vegetarians and vegans can eat it. Not all veg*ans choose not to eat meat on ethical bases, and the choice to do so under any auspices does not exempt placentae from still being meat, derived from an animal.

    On the other hand, some vegans don't consume *honey* because we are enslaving bees. I'm sure they're in their hives, buzzing bee spirituals and dreaming of the day they can swarm all over The Man and gain their freedom. Whatever.

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  9. My brother and his wife discussed what they would do with their placenta once their son was born (and yes they called it "their" placenta). The options they discussed were framing it and hanging it above the sofa, planting it with a new tree (the least repulsive idea to me, but highly unlikely because they still don't own their own home), or to eat it. I don't know what they did with it in the end, but I have yet to eat at their house again.

    What would I do with a placenta? Would I eat it? No. I would donate it to science so that maybe it could come to some greater good. I don't have a problem with people eating their placentas, I just don't really want to hear about it. I find it icky. Like eating boogers or something.

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  10. I've got to go with my gut reaction on this one, which is dry heaving and nausea. Yech!

    That being said, I know a few people who use placenta conditioner to smooth and rejuvenate their unruly locks, though I'm not sure if that placenta is culled from humans or not.

    Excellent post. I really enjoyed reading it, and appreciate your appetite for different subjects, even the less palatable ones!

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  11. Actually I kinda knew or someone that did this. Said no harm done..then again it was only the mother that tried a *small* piece and buried the rest (under a baby tree).

    I think in our society it's...borderline unacceptable?..but if it were a aboriginal tribe in the middle of the rainforest yes I can see that happening due to nutrition.

    As curious as I am, I personally...Just wouldn't...try it...Even if it were my own. It's not so much the whole societal thing (tho' it may just be sub conscious)...It's just not the most...enticing ideas? It doesn't thrill me in that food-loving-thrill-seeking kind of way.

    Now if you dropped me in the middle of a forest and if I just happened to be knocked up and 9 months with barely any food to survive and with maybe a fire and a rickety shelter. I'd maybe consider it.

    -Amy

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  12. I'm six months pregnant and call me uninformed, but this is the first I've heard of humans eating their own placentas in modern culture.

    I have a moral problem with the cannibalism because it usually assumes that the human was deliberately killed before being eaten--whether for the purpose of eating or for the purpose of killing, it doesn't matter. The point is, the person probably didn't die a natural death. I think human life is sacred, because humans are thinking, articulate creatures with souls, while animals are not (though I know many people would disagree with me there).

    That being said, historically there are instances of people stranded on desert islands or in other tragic circumstances who have eaten a member of their group who died. In that instance, where it is a matter of necessity and the person was dead already anyway, I suppose one could justify eating human flesh if it was necessary to survive.

    So to get to the question at hand: No humans are killed, or even harmed in the making or harvesting of a placenta. Once it is delivered, its purpose is finished. There is nothing else to do with it but dispose of it. So MORALLY, I don't think there's really a problem with eating it, (although personally I'd have to be seriously starving to consider it). As you've so effectively pointed out, Garrett, there is no NEED for people in any industrialized country to eat a placenta, since we don't have to worry about animal predators and we can get ample nutrition elsewhere.

    So, bottom line: I guess it would be kind of like eating one's own tonsils after a tonsillectomy. Probably nothing wrong with it, but ... EWWWW. And what would be the point, other than to freak people out?

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  13. We planted ours under a tree - which is now the healthiest, leafiest tree in our yard.

    I know someone who consumed hers. She had horrible trouble with postpartum depression with her first two pregnancies and decided to try placentophagy for her third. No PPD at all that time. Having seen them, I truly believe there is medical use to them.

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  14. I had not heard about eating the placenta until after my second child was born and I suffered severe postpartum depression. At that time, I discovered that a local herbalist is expert at drying out the placenta (at low temperature so as not to eliminate any hormonal or nutritional value) and able to put it into capsule form, for the purpose of restoring hormonal balance.

    I was intrigued by the idea then and will definitely look into this should I become pregnant again. The value of anything that really works to restore hormone balance and avoid postpartum depression is worth it to me, not matter gross it sounds to others.

    The idea of eating it outright? I don't know that I'd be able to do that, especially since there is an alternative with the same benefits.

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  15. I didn't even consider eating mine, but I don't like offal and I was too lazy and squeamish to dry it, grind it up and put it into pills. I don't begrudge people who do, but the idea of it wigs me out bigtime.

    That said, my placenta was most definitely nutritionally sound. I mean there was French Laundry in that there organ for fuck's sake. It was also really large, apparently. I guess that was to nourish my freakishly large mutant baby.

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  16. According to a friends midwife, eating the placenta can be very helpful in regulating the hormonal changes the body undergoes after delivery and can even help with post-partum depression.
    Very interesting post for a food blog, well done!

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  17. Wow. My mom always kept her placentas in the freezer after giving birth (home births). I was always wary of this because we were vegetarian and it just seemed weird to have something organ-y in the freezer next to our food! I think she eventually got rid of them, though. She certainly never mentioned eating them. I think Marlana put it well in the first comment on this thread; without a real need to eat them, it doesn't seem the thing to do.

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  18. I have no moral objection to eating placenta, I'm just squeamish. After giving birth three times, I was done with all that and had no desire to see it.

    I must say you handled the subject well, though I'm still a little grossed out. :-)

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  19. Firstly, ew. Secondly, I cannot, in my whole life, imagine going online to look up a recipe for "braised placenta". Much less serving it to guests. Thirdly, while I can see the merit of eating it if I was starving and had just given birth, I can't imagine CHOOSING to eat it. Just because. Ugh. And as a final point, it doesn't look to me that it would taste all that good. Even if you did braise it in red wine. Ew.

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  20. Weird - this is the second post I've read about this in about a week. I'd never thought about it (or imagined it) before then...

    Here's a lady that is planning on grinding up her placenta and taking it in pill form...

    http://walkslowlylivewildly.com/2009/02/11/a-journey-into-pregnancy-and-birth/

    It's just a strange concept to me.

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  21. Given that my due date is tomorrow, your post is very timely. Eating one's own placenta sure seems yucky to me, kind of like people who eat their scabs... Also, it just seems very odd and wrong to eat a meal that comes out of your vagina. Ew.

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  22. Garrett,

    Seen one (of two). Amazing looking organ. Looks like liver. My minds eye says no lobes. Very colorful. Deep red with blue veins coming from the outside in to the center with the cord which was whitish yellow making it's way out to the child.
    Wouldn't eat one, nor sell one for consumption.
    Had friends bury one in their back yard.

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  23. The same opinion I have about so many other things--not for me, but who am I to judge? Goodness knows we eat other bodily effluvia. . . ! :)
    Good topic, Garrett, thanks!
    Charlene

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  24. Placenta is the best thing a new mother can take to help her recover from the pregnancy and birth.

    There is no need to eat the placenta to get the benefits from it. It can be dried and encapsulated, and she just has to take a few capsules a day for a few weeks postpartum.

    As to your comments on nutrition; I challenge your assertion that US women get enough nutrients in their diets on a daily basis. New mothers in particular rarely find time to eat properly. Additionally, her body is trying to recover from a major physical ordeal, and the iron content in the placenta is incredibly important to this process. Iron supplements are chemically manufactured and must be processed by the kidneys and liver before the remaining small percentage iron is even accessible by her system. Natural forms of iron (such as placenta) are readily available in a much higher percentage. Iron deficiency has been linked to fatigue and PostPartum Depression - keeping her system nourished will help her avoid some of those issues.

    As to the comments on research, there are many research articles available online at Placenta Benefits.info.

    Vegetarians have a particular issue finding enough iron through their diets; many of my clients have been vegetarians and vegans, and find no conflict with taking their own placenta in capsule form. It is akin to breastmilk, in that it is produced by your own body for a particular purpose. (And yes, I'm referring to the placenta having a purpose after being born - it is the baby's life support in the womb, and it is uniquely suited for the mother after its birth.)

    I have personally worked with hundreds of women who find the capsules beneficial. They all call them their "happy pills", and would not give birth without them again. The energy boost alone is worth it (with only getting random bits of sleep in the night), letalone the increase in milk production and hormone balancing.

    Until our society provides true support for new mothers, the placenta is readily available and easily utilized to help her in those first few weeks postpartum. Mothers need every tool available to them - motherhood is difficult, and women are often left to deal with it pretty much on their own.

    Jodi Selander
    Founder, Placenta Benefits.info

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  25. I believe I heard years ago that when David Carradine and his girlfriend Barbara Hershey had their son Free, David enjoyed eating the placenta.

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  26. Well, it certainly is an off-putting topic, but I'm not squeamish. Much.

    I am a little over 18 years too late on this one, since I don't plan to reproduce again. I do, however, think it makes sense and I would probably try it, had I known about the benefits. I am an adventurous girl and will try most things - twice, but I don't think I would eat someone else's placenta unless it were cooked, or they were my lover. And, the latter is highly unlikely.

    It makes sense to me, because the mother loses a lot when she carries and gives birth to a child. Her body is depleted, and will never the same again. She probably actually needs that nutrient boost, and it is right there for her. Like nature screaming, duh!

    It makes even more sense for animals that naturally lick their babies clean.

    Aside from the texture, I fail to see how it is any more gross than consuming other reproductive bodily fluids or breast milk, for that matter. There is an entire voyeuristic industry dedicated to the consumption of these things, for goodness sakes.

    I am curious. Did your research turn up placenta sploshing fetishes?

    ~ Paula

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  27. I had a professor who pickled his two children's placentas and had them in jars in the front room of his house.

    In response to the comment that cannibalism usually involves killing someone, that is not generally the case. Apart from the serial killers and the few cultures who eat fallen heroes of war, cannibalism generally involves eating parts of someone (generally organ tissues such as the brain) who has died of natural causes. In the Fore people of New Guinea, the women traditionally ate the brain of dead relatives as part of the burial ceremony. This was stopped when researchers made the connection between the abnormally high rate of Kuru (aka Mad Cow Disease) in the tribe and this tradition. Another example of when people were not killed expressly to be eaten is the 1970s Uruguayan rugby team, whose plane crashed in the Andes and some of the team survived by eating the frozen remains of those who had died in the crash.

    Would I eat my own placenta? Probably not, but I might bury it under a tree.

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  28. This is just too hilarious. I was just having a conversation with a very pregnant friend about this the other night (how pregnant? so pregnant that they just made their way to the birth center!). She is planning to do the dehydration and then encapsulating of the placenta. Although that does seem gross to me on a knee-jerk-reaction level, I think this is probably a good use for it. It is supposed to help immensely with PPD. My other pregnant friend (how pregnant? not at all, she had her baby yesterday!) and I discussed this a while back, and she decided that as a vegetarian she just couldn't bring herself to eat her placenta.

    On the other hand... I read something the other day about a placenta smoothie- and evidently that's where I draw the line, because that made me want to throw up just a little.

    So will I eat mine someday? Only if someone is willing to do all the dirty work for me, and all I have to do is swallow some pills. Then again, I hate swallowing pills.

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  29. Just because it is produced during the "natural" birthing process doesn't mean its a good idea to eat. The human body produces poop too but nobody wants to eat that. I say, if it comes out it probably wasn't meant to go back in!

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  30. I doubt many people are eating human placenta for gourmet or extreme eating purposes, but I have heard great things about women avoiding post-partum depression by eating it.

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  31. I have heard of people having parties where they cook up something with placenta, and serve it to the guests.
    I personally do not like organ meat and don't think I could bring myself to eat it outright.
    However, as a scientist, I am intrigued by it's effect on PPD. I may have to read a bit more, but having my placenta made into capsules seems like an option. I would most likely look into an alternative, such as an herbal or etc. instead of my own placenta if I was concerned with PPD.
    Thanks for such a great post!

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  32. I wouldn't do it, because it sounds gross mostly. Plus, there doesn't seem to be a point. I would imagine if there was a good reason to do it, humans would have kept doing over the centuries. They haven't, so why should I?

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  33. Cannibalism. Yup, I said it. Now, arguably, this doesn't exactly fit Webster's definition, but I think it's pretty close.

    Please understand, I'm really not finger-wagging or judging those who support eating placenta, and I know in some places on the planet this is a perfectly acceptable practice and even a time-honored tradition, and that is common behavior among certain animals. I would even imagine, frankly, that if prepared and seasoned correctly it might also taste delicious.

    Having said that, for me personally (and no one else) it's still a matter of 'this is a part of a human body (albeit a byproduct)' and therefore it's just too ooky for me to entertain the possibility of partaking of such a disturbing dish. All IMHO, and if you disagree that's cool, but just my two cents.

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  34. Way back when, in my second job (photolab) I developed prints a guy had taken of his wife giving birth. This also included pics of the placenta (called afterbirth back home) being cooked over a portable gas fire (with onions, can't recall what else but the onions stood out).

    He and his wife ate this as their first meal after the birth of their child - it being in the way of a sacred offering/thanks to God. They were part of a reborn Christian group.

    The idea does not gross me out but is not something I personally would choose to do (but then again, I don't care for liver, kidneys or tripe either, regardless of the species it hails from).

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  35. A huge thank you to those few posters who mentioned the benefits of placentophagy to the mother, particular as it references post-partum depression! The hormones that the placenta contains are beneficial in giving the mother an easy transition out of pregnancy and avoiding PPD (particularly of benefit in individuals such as myself who had a depressive disorder prior to pregnancy!), and also in transitioning through menopause, as an alternative to taking the chemical hormones a doctor would provide! I have no intention of cooking my placenta or eating it sashimi style, though I have spoken with some women who did just that. But I do plan to dehydrate and encapsulate it. I too have gestational diabetes thanks to the hormones pouring out of this organ right now, but a few more weeks of watching my food and pricking my fingers are worth it to me to be able to manage depression and breastfeed my child without worrying about what drugs she'll be getting.

    What's good for the goose is not always good for the gander. I know full well there are people who will find this repulsive when they know I plan to do it. i admit, the notion made me feel sick at first too, until I found out about encapsulation. But please understand that for MANY women, it is not so much about the thrill of going against the machine or being different, hippie, or new age, it is about helping our bodies recover from the past 10 months as well as possible, and in so doing, giving our babies the best start at life that we can, with a mother who has a full milk supply and is not too withdrawn, depressed, and psychotic to care for a baby properly.

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  36. I am only sixteen and have been recently researching this as a possibility for when I do have children. As of now, I am struggling with depression and am pretty positive that I will experience PPD. I think that ingesting the placenta (in pill form) will help me to bypass it. I am so glad that I found this out and I think that someday this might become a social norm for women. Not eating it, but taking it in pill form.

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  37. Awesome article. Reminds me of a movie... "Soilent Green is made of people!" LOL

    I am completely with you on your entire discussion.

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  38. My wife is pregnant with our first child and just before our last ultrasound scan, she mentioned this idea of eating the placenta. I was a bit shocked but it's part of her at the end of the day. She still hasn't decided but she'd only go through with it, if she found solid scientific evidence to back up the health benefits.

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  39. One can find info on all the great things in the placenta that help the new mother feel her best, keeping her hormone levels from dropping too suddenly, which can cause PPD and severe drying of hair and skin among other things. Averts anemia and aids in milk production too.

    If a mom is experiencing PPH (post-partum hemmorhage) she can ingest a piece (personally I'd recommend rinsing the blood out and swallowing it whole) and the hormones in it and produced by its presence in the body will stop excess bleeding within 4 minutes.

    Some women's personal experience has included the cessation (stopping) of lochia (normal post-partum bleeding) at a much earlier time (in one woman's experience at 10 days instead of 5 weeks). I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a slightly-longer-than-menstruation lochia than 3-6 weeks (or more).

    If one makes a tincture (soaks a piece in a high-proof alcohol, go look up full-and-proper directions) a dropper-full can be used instead of hormone-replacement therapy for menopause. A tincture will keep virtually forever if kept in a cool and dark place, so it's then beneficial to mom not just at birth, but many years later.

    I'm 6 months along with my third and plan to use a piece for tincture, and encapsulate the rest. We also have my son's placenta in the freezer, so I can at least pull it out to look at, and maybe make a print with it, even if it's too old to encapsulate as well. I don't like liver (the only offal I've tried) so I don't think I'd eat any raw, unless well-blended in a smoothie (or if I experience excess bleeding at our home-birth). There is a certain amount of ick factor there.

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  40. Great article.

    Not sure if this is of any interest, but this is a radio show talking about placentophagy both from the perspective of a woman who prepares the organs for consumption and from an anthropologist studying the practice. Hope it sheds a bit of light.

    http://is.gd/hbm007

    -J

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Hey, you're leaving a comment! That's pretty darn cool, so thanks. If you have any questions or have found an error on the site or with a recipe, please e-mail me and I will reply as soon as possible.
~Garrett

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