Give me Starbucks any day of the week, beetle notwithstanding. The latest trend in placenta preservation is smoothies.
No longer a practice exclusive to the eccentrics likes of Yoko Ono, the health benefits of consuming placenta are widely espoused by stars like Mad Men's January Jones, who encapsulated her placenta after birth. British soccer player Robin Van Persie famously used placenta remedies to help heal a torn ankle ligament.
According to Hazel Mayger, a recently trained Placenta Encapsulation Specialist (for real) in Northern Ireland, placenta plays a key role in replenishing a woman's blood supply after childbirth.
The Independent Placenta Encapsulation Network (also real) claims that blood loss during delivery can be as much as 1/8 to 1/10 of a woman's entire supply. With caesarean section, blood loss can be "significantly more," and can lead to anaemia. No wonder we feel so exhausted after having a baby! Placenta helps pump back meaty iron, amino acids and essential fats into the new mom's body.
"We have found however that mothers who consume their placenta after birth, particularly after consuming raw placenta in a smoothie, bleed significantly less," said Ms Mayger.
"The most important nutrients found in rich supply in the placenta include stem cells and growth factors, iron, vitamins B6 (aids in the making of antibodies), Vitamin E (for healing damaged skin cells), Oxytocin hormone (essential for facilitating birth and breastfeeding), CRH (responsible for reducing stress levels), Cytokins (fibroblasts that trigger cell metabolism healing and replacing damaged cells and tissue. Women who have consumed their own placenta testify that it has given them energy, improved their mood, reduced the likeliness of post natal depression and improved their milk supply."
Having said that, if you managed to sneak a peek at your placenta after the fact, you'll known it's not pretty. Ground up in a capsule? Maybe. But raw in a smoothie? Seriously, the stuff of a Survivor challenge.
Could you get over the ick factor if it meant kick-starting your post-birth recovery?
Printer-friendly version