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Placentophagia for lunch

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Posted 09-10-2011 at 03:25 AM by zerezL

The human placenta is considered to be a biohazard, and so United States hospitals generally get rid of them following newborn labor and birth. Yet like a recent story in New York Magazine points out, instances of placentophagia - or the act of ingesting the placenta - are increasing among new American moms and fathers. Some women see it as a cure-all for postpartum disorders, however doctors aren't on board with this synopsis. Source of article: On the meal plan for dads and moms: Ingesting the placenta.

Placenta uses


Human placentas has been used in Chinese medicine traditionally. ???, or “Zi He Che,” contains dried placenta of humans and is used to treat all kinds of diseases including infertility, wasting diseases and impotence also as others. Placenta has its own hieroglyph in ancient Egypt. The Ibo tribe of Nigeria and Ghana treat the placenta as a child's dead twin. Culture dictates that practicing Judaists keep the placenta of their newborn child, and United States hospitals will generally concede to such wishes upon request, going as far as to pack it up securely before the mother is discharged. Still other cultures bury the placenta and plant a tree over it.

Using the placenta as medicine


Many people believe that if a human placenta is dried and cut up, it works as a medicinal supplement in clear, encapsulated pill form. Combating postpartum depression and replenishing nutrients lost during pregnancy are two utilizes. Uterus contraction and increased breast milk are 2 other conditions that can be helped. One reason placentophagiasts believe in the benefits of the placenta in capsule forms is the placenta allows good things to get to the baby and keeps bad things out, in order for a baby to properly grow in uterine.

“They’re happy pills,” said Jennifer Mayer, a 28-year-old professional placenta preparer from upstate New York. “They’re made by your body, for body. Why wouldn’t you need to try?”



Animals do it; why not individuals?


A macaque money was seen consuming consuming her placenta after birth by researchers Carl Hartman and Otto Tinklepaugh in 1930. The reason was unclear, however it has since been observed that almost every other land mammal does the same thing. Nobody knows why animals have been observed ingesting their placenta. Scientists presume it is for nutritional reasons. University of Buffalo behavioral neuroscientist Mark Kristal, who's the United States' leading professional medical authority on placentophagia, notes that placenta consumption offers “a fundamental biological advantage” to mammals, however the exact nature of that advantage is still a mystery:

“In fact, a double mystery. We're not sure either of the urgent causes … nor are we sure of the consequences of the behavior.”



The 1970s was the first time that placentophagia was an event in the United States Kristal says that the phase picks up again every decade or so.

“It’s a New Age phenomenon,” he explains. “It’s not based on science. It’s a craze.”



Compost a placenta


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flc8RVvku2g

Articles cited


New York Magazine: http://nymag.com/news/features/placenta-2011-8/

Placentophagy Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placentophagy

USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/...ngestion_N.htm
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