Placenta eating and PND

So its the buzz topic in the press at the moment.  Tom Cruise was going to eat the placenta and now he is not.  Now all jokes aside Placenta eating is a practice that is generally not practised in the UK.  In fact, we are the only mammal that do not eat our own placenta post birth.  Animals must have it right as there are many benefits.

According to research conducted by Mahidol University in Thailand, human placenta is a good source of sodium, potassium and phosphorous. Placenta is also an excellent source of protein.

In fact placenta eating has its very own terminology - "placentophagia" (eating of the placenta)

It is also a belief that it can help stem postnatal depression and that it can help to contract the uterus after birth.

However this can be seen as barbaric and some have even said that this could spread HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis. This is very true if people other than the mother consume the placenta, normally it is only the mother partaking of the placenta.

If you look into Chinese Medicine, the placenta is highly respected in terms of its medicinal value and is known as a great life force.  It is not cooked but usually dried. To dry a placenta you would simply dehydrate it in the oven, then grind it up using a mortar and pestle. Dried placenta can then be mixed with food or ingested within capsules.