.png)
Are you totally grossed out about the idea of eating your placenta... but maybe also weirdly curious? Many people have heard about it from a friend or even a celebrity. Their isn't a whole lot of updated research on consuming your placenta, but I've rounded up some of what we have here! And if you want to dive deeper, check out my previous post highlighting some of the most recent research.
Hormones
The hormonal fluctuations that happen in birthing people are drastic and complicated. Nine months of constantly increasing hormones drop back down to pre-pregnancy levels by day 5 postpartum. Once, I had a client ask me, well, why don't we just do hormone replacement therapy for people? Unfortunately, the studies that have looked into it are small and inconclusive. A review of the literature indicates that some hormones may play a role in depressive mood disorders.
George Chrousos has done a lot of research with NIH on corticotropin releasing hormone, or CRH, which helps the body create cortisol. The body needs cortisol so that it can effectively deal with stress. During pregnancy, the placenta makes huge amounts - maybe to help people cope with the stress of labor and birth. A small study looked at CRH in 17 pregnant people from the last trimester until just after they gave birth. All had low CRH levels in the 6 weeks following birth, and those with the lowest levels reported depression symptoms. He suspects that after the placenta is delivered, it takes some time before the body begins making CRH again on its own.
The very limited research we have begs the question: is ingesting your placenta helpful because it gives you bio-available hormone replacement during the initial postpartum hormone crash?
Lactation
The dearth of research continues on the topic of placentas and lactation, but there is study from the 1950s that showed some promising results: participants took either their own freeze dried placenta or beef and researchers found that those who took their own placenta had increases in milk supply.1 Although this study isn't up to today's scientific standards, it does give us some indication that placenta can increase milk supply, and that that increase is not solely from consuming protein.
We have a study from the 1980s that shows that when mice ingest their placenta it has an effect on their hormones, while ingesting other controls (hormone injections, bovine and human placenta) did not. A journal article mentions placenta ingestion in humans from as far back as the early 1900s, supporting the idea that their is a historical belief that placenta can be used to increase milk supply in humans.2
Iron Deficiency & Fatigue
Postpartum iron deficiency and anemia is prevalent and in need of more attention and care. The consequences of iron deficiency in one study were impaired physical capacity, deficits in mood and cognition, and reduced immune function. Another study demonstrated that there is a strong relationship between iron status and depression, stress, and cognitive functioning in low-income South Africans. Indeed, some research has shown that fatigue in the first 2 weeks postpartum may be a predictor of postpartum depression. Those are some big impacts during a time that is already vulnerable for new parents.
The good news is that at least one study showed women with unexplained fatigue may benefit from iron supplementation. This relates to placenta consumption because the placenta contains bio-available iron. It is not at the level of recommended daily amount (RDA) but it is enough that it could have an impact.
Wait, What About Toxins?
Some people are totally grossed out by their placenta because they can't imagine eating something that has worked as a filtering organ for months on end. The placenta is not so much a filter as a central system for coordinating what goes in and what comes out. Any toxins and heavy metals are filtered back out to the pregnant person to be excreted. You are not ingesting something that has just been catching toxins for 9 months.
For smokers who choose to smoke during pregnancy, we do know that cadmium levels are increased. That said, we do not know the exact toxin amount that shows up in encapsulated placenta so each person needs to make their own decisions. Research has also shown that those with significant heavy metal exposure will likely have higher levels of metal on the maternal side of the placenta, so those who are exposed to very high levels of pollution should also do their own risk assessment.
Opioids in a Good Way
Mammals who eat their placentas experience accelerated bonding behaviors. Also, and very exciting, ingestion of afterbirth created enhancement of ongoing opioid-mediated analgesia, or pain relief. The active substance in placenta and amniotic fluid has been named POEF, for Placental Opioid-Enhancing Factor. Yay for an increase in pain relief after birth!
The most interesting thing to me is hearing from clients how helpful and supportive their placenta pills felt. Even though we don't have the research to back it up, individuals report more energy and better mood. Just like all research on people with uteruses, we need more information and further (larger!) studies.
Sources
Soykova-Pachnerova, Eva, Vlastimil Brutar, Berta Golova, and Eva Zvolska. “Placenta as a Lactogogon.” Gyaecologia: International Monthly Review of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 138.6 (1954): 617-27. Print.
Bianchini, Teresa. "THE PLACENTA AS A GALACTAGOGUE." Gazetta Italiana delle Levatrici July, 1916. Print.
Comments