Thursday, December 15, 2011

Placentophagy

What is placentophagy?  Placentophagy is defined as the act of mammals eating the placenta of their young.  People are often shocked at the mention of ingesting your own placenta but did you know that most mammals participate in the act of placentophagy?   

In aminal studies, researchers found that eating the placenta after birth helped with pain releif, milk production, and shrinking of the uterus back to normal size.  The placenta also contains oxytocin, which helps with bonding and stress relief.  The placenta can be a great source of nutrition for an animal that has just given birth and mammals have been created with an instinct to make the most of that nutrition by ingesting their placenta

Now I know that people are much different than animals.  We also have greater availability and access to nutritious foods.  However, I do believe that a lot of times nature can serve as a great guide in our modern culture.  As more and more women in the west start to partake of this simple remedy that has been revered in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries, we begin to really see it's effectiveness.

So don't let all that nutrition go in the trash can!  Use it to help you have a happy, healthy post partum!

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