Doctors Warn Moms to Stop Eating Their Placenta – Turns Out it’s More Than Just Gross
I really think it should go with out saying, but thanks to celebrities like Kim Kardasian and others, apparently this needs to be said. Stop eating your placenta! It's extremely unhealthy for you and your child.
The trend of eating placentas has been on the rise recently. A lot of the popularity can be attributed to many celebrities who do it.
Kim Kardasian comes to mind as one celebrity who not only did it, but promoted doing it on her show, "Keeping up with the Kardasians". However more and more doctors are warning against this practice.
Men and woman who believe in the practice, claim that it can help moms with postpartum depression. Others claim that it can increase energy and help in breast feeding.
However in a review published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, found that there are no benefits to eating your placenta and in fact the practice can be dangerous.
According to the article, “Risks include viral and bacterial infections for both the baby who is being breast fed and the mother."
The dangers apparently lie in the possibility of ingesting toxins and hormones that accumulate in the placenta during pregnancy. Some moms say these risks are mitigated by cooking, grilling, freeze drying or as in the case of Kim Kardasian, encapsulating the placenta, but researchers said the risks are present even under these situations.
High temperatures are needed to kill viruses such as HIV, Zika and hepatitis, which can all remain present in the placenta. And according to the research, even if the placenta was heated high enough and long enough to kill the viruses, the study shows, heavy metals and hormones can accumulate and the heat would have no effect on those compounds, which are also extremely unhealthy for the baby and the mother.
So, once again, even though I feel it should go without saying, it needs to be said. Mom’s, for your own health and the heath of your babies, stop eating placenta!