Placenta Eating: Natural Or Disgusting?

TIME:

There is so much you can't know about your spouse when you get married, like that one day she will want to eat her placenta. But there are two things you don't argue about with a pregnant woman: what she eats and that being full of life indeed looks sexy. So when Cassandra told me that for $275, a woman would come to our house, cook Cassandra's placenta, freeze-dry it and turn it into capsules to help ward off postpartum depression and increase milk supply, I said, "$275 is a bargain compared with the $20,000 I'll have to spend to tear out our kitchen immediately afterward."

Read the whole story: TIME

Comments

[OKSunny]

read the Time story--its hilarious.

[SmolderingRuin]

Natural, and only as disgusting as your prejudices dictate.

[fcsakes]

Oh my God.

[Sumocat]

Why is this a question of either-or? Lot things are both natural and disgusting, like snot dripping out of your nose. Seems like a logical fallacy to claim its one or the other.

[OKSunny]

good point---giving birth is another example---TOTALLY disgusting but natural

[deluk]

Anthony Worral Thompson, a television chef in the UK, (sort of like Gordon Ramsey but less potty-mouthed and more back to nature) gleefully devoted a whole television program to educating the nation in the virtues and techniques of placenta cooking.

I don't think it caught on, looked rather unappetising, but the newly birthed mother insisted it was satisfying,

[Sensiblebg]

I'm sure it would make a wonderful chilli..

[mick7191]

I recommend it with fava beans and a nice chianti.

[garystartswithg]

animals eat lots of things that we don't -- like raw rodents and poop. vegan is sounding really good right now.

[aliceautumn]

Eating poop is totally natural. I bet it increases milk production and cures acne.

[wonkguy]

I'm surprised it has taken this long for something like this to take root. When I was a kid we had a cat that did it. It does seem to make total sense. Especially if you don't have a man to send out for a run to the drive thru.

[Vickster]

Most of my goats eat their placentas.

[Tamoomoo]

I am currently 16 weeks pregnant, but I would never consider eating my placenta. In fact, I get queasy at the thought!!!!

[TimLB]

Natural? Perhaps. Disgusting? Definitely.

[muadibe]

Well, other animals do it and many women take placenta pills, so sounds like it might not be such a bad idea after all.

My cousin's pit bull had 13 puppies. She ate ALL 13 placentas.

Just a thought.:)

[JScott]

Wasn't there a sketch (not aired) on this on SNL (Plancenta Helper?)

Sounds yecch but lets remember humans eat slaughtered animals drink their milk, eat bird embryos,
then there's the story about cleaning your face in the am with your first urine of the day to get rid of acne,
and putting rogaine on the scalp as a baldness prevention which is derived from rats urine. I guess it's all about marketing, societal perception and belief. After all what's Fetticine Alfredo but a fancy version of Macaroni & Cheese.

[minimalist syntax]

Why not consider Macaroni and Cheese a simplified version of Fettuccine Alfredo?

[ebanks84]

Thank goodness, I've never had that desire :)

[playchessordie]

i'm pregnant and i considered placenta pills, so i asked my doctor about this. she didn't completely dismiss this idea, but she did point out that placenta serves as a filter between body and baby and does not retain much useful material. then she asked if i would want to eat my car filter. i said no. i'm still considering placenta pills though. the prospect of post pardum depression seems a lot more disgusting than eating your own waste.

[Vickster]

While eating the placenta immediately after birth will provide a much needed dose of protein and fat to a new mother (especially if she gives birth in a place or time when food is hard to find), I sincerely doubt that taking placenta pills will prevent post-partum depression.