Is it okay to eat your own placenta?

The placenta is not only the source of food supply for the baby, but also a very good traditional Chinese medicine. In the early years, parents did not care about placentas and they left it to the hospitals to deal with their children's placentas. Some hospitals would resell them to people in need. Many people now realize the medicinal value of the placenta. After the baby is born, they will keep the placenta and even cook it for the baby to eat later. Is it okay to eat your own placenta?

The main components of the placenta are protein, hormones and various enzymes, which have a tonic effect on the human body. However, the various hormones and some active substances contained in the placenta only have the effect of promoting the development of breasts, uterus, and ovaries, as well as enhancing the body's resistance and anti-allergic effects on pregnant women themselves.

In addition, the placenta can nourish qi and blood, and replenish the kidneys and essence. It is effective for symptoms such as asthma, fatigue and cough, qi deficiency and weakness, blood deficiency and sallow complexion, infertility and low milk production. Traditional Chinese medicine calls the human placenta "human uterus" or "afternoon" and believes it has medicinal value. According to the "Compendium of Materia Medica", it is warm and non-toxic, and has the effects of warming the kidney, benefiting the meridians, replenishing qi, and nourishing blood. Treats fatigue and weakness in men and women, and trance. Its dried preparation is called "placenta" or "hunyuanyi", which can be used to treat uterine hypoplasia, female infertility, miscarriage, premature birth, etc. Therefore, it is very common to use drugs extracted from the placenta (such as placental tissue fluid, placenta hormone) to treat the above diseases. However, this must also be produced and used according to the national regulations on drug production and management.

In our country, pregnant women after giving birth rarely have the ability to touch the placenta on their own. In the past few years, the placenta would generally be disposed of by hospitals. However, there are still many legends about the placenta among the people. Some people even use their connections in hospitals to illegally obtain the placenta. Therefore, in order to avoid being obtained by others, many mothers choose to take it home and deal with it themselves.

Many people in Europe and the United States eat the placenta after giving birth because they believe that the placenta itself contains many nutrients and hormones. If the mother eats her own placenta, it can also prevent postpartum depression. People who are afraid to eat the placenta directly will choose to dehydrate the placenta, grind it into powder and make capsules to swallow. These are common practices abroad, but few people do this in China.

Opinions on eating the placenta

1. Because the placenta provides complete nutrition to the fetus in the mother's body, the placenta also contains various nutrients needed by the human body. It contains 8 kinds of amino acids, and the composition ratio is most suitable for human absorption. There are also many immunoglobulins that can remove peroxides from the body and enhance the body's immunity.

2. Once the placenta leaves the mother's body, its function ends. Especially for the placenta of overdue delivery, apart from a lot of estrogen, there are very few other nutrients. Besides, the nutrients contained in the human placenta can be obtained from other foods. Eating some animal placenta, such as sheep placenta, can fully meet the needs. There is no need to be obsessed with just the human placenta.

3. Even if the placenta contains a large amount of nutrients (amino acids, immunoglobulins, various hormones, enzymes), these are substances that will decompose when exposed to heat. If they are cooked and eaten, the nutrients have been destroyed and are of little significance. What should be noted is that the number of blood-transmitted diseases is increasing (AIDS, syphilis, hepatitis, etc.). Many viruses will not be killed in a short period of time even in boiling water. Once you are infected with the above diseases, it will become a lifelong regret.