Take a look here.
What you are looking at is a scan of the little leaflet that comes in a 100 Tab box of Sugar Coated Placenta Tablets. My GF takes these every day, which, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I find a little bit disturbing. Inside the leaflet it says, in both Chinese and English:
So… any comments?
:eek: Ewwwwwwww !
That’s my comment since we don’t have a puking smilie here (yet).
Wow…does she wash em down with a big shot of snake oil? Pardon me if I misread, but she’s supposed to take 9 to 15 tablets a day?!? I also looked up a couple terms I wans’t familiar with…
[Merriam-Webster Dictionary[* ma·ras·mus
2(part I perceived as pertaining to medical condition): a condition of chronic undernourishment occurring especially in children and usually caused by a diet deficient in calories and proteins*. So, the fetus is feasting away at the placenta whilst gestating and not attached and gaining nourishment through the placenta from the mother? Well live and learn. (Damn, I knew I should have asked the Doc for the thing that looked as though he’d dropped a pizza topping side down, after the birth of my two kids!) I am also very unfamilar with the term galactagogue. Near as I can find, ga·lac·tose: a sugar C6H12O6 less soluble and less sweet than glucose or ga·lac·to·semia : an inherited metabolic disorder in which galactose accumulates in the blood due to deficiency of an enzyme catalyzing its conversion to glucose. Are they implying with some quasi-medical-ese, that dried placenta is a suitable treatment for lactose intolerance?
[insert :skeptical smilie[/]
[sub] I don’t blame you for being a bit disturbed over this. Please tell me she’s not actually paying for these things.[/sub]
Oh, I forgot and feel I need to add, IANAMD, YMMV, the preceeding was IMHO and only as a semi-sane adult female with access to the internet and a search engine.
Sugar Coated Placebo Tablets
(probably)
Tequilla, the idea is that it’s loaded with hormones. (A galactagogue is something that encourages the production of breast milk- and placenta is chock full o’ hormones that do it, which is why western midwifery encourages the new mother to cook and eat her placenta.)
I’m not sure what is stranger to me:[ul][li]the bizarre western approach of trying to make it “fun food”,[/li] Placenta Pizza? Are they serious?
or
[li]The total commodification of it that the chinese get into.[/li](Apart from the commercial preparations, you can buy whole dried placentae at most apothecaries.)[/ul]
I’ve invented the puking smiley:
:eek:
.:.
.:.
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Two thoughts:
Wow. I was convinced that the thread title was a tongue-in-cheek mispelling of “placebo”. But no, the world is a weirder place than I had previously imagined. This gives a whole new meaning to waste not, want not.
Out of curiosity, what do they do to the placenta to make sure it’s microbiologically safe? It’s not nervous tissue, so you’re probably safe from prions, but I would think that most viruses (Aids, hepatitis, herpes) could be transmitted in human tissue.
If your body needs hormones it will make hormones. Bodies are smart like that. I’m sure if an additional protein source is needed it could easily be found in a soy or vegetable based form. I’m sure a lot of the claims are based on this increased protein intake.
Either way, while it may alright to eat your own placenta–my pets have always done this after birth, (dogs, guinea pigs), I don’t think it is safe to consume someone else’s placenta.
Just my humble opinion but I think her money could be better spent. Either it’s real(human,cow,goat?) placenta–high in ick factor and of questional benefit, or it’s a scam.
Sounds like a bunch of hooey to me. I’d check the FDA site for any warnings associated with taking this “medication.”
When I saw your thread title I first thought it sounded like the worst breakfast cereal idea ever.
Could the hormones in the placenta survive cooking? Animals clearly don’t cook their placenta before they eat it. Is a human woman who cooks her placenta and eats it really deriving any benefit, i.e. increased hormones?
I find it disturbing enough to contemplate eating my own/my baby’s placenta - but someone else’s? That’s really beyond the pale.
Does your GF realize she’s technically a cannibal? They are human placentas, are they not?
I guess I shouldn’t knock it until I try it. Mmmmmm, full of afterbirthy goodness!
Thanks, now I’ve got ads for that crap running through my head!
New from Kellogg’s! Sugar Frosted Placenta Flakes! As Tony says, “They’re G-R-E-A-T!”
Wondering about the hormones that are actually in them, I found this analysis of the constituents of dried placenta conducted by a research team in Thailand. Seems like they do contain estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, and growth hormone. The study was more focused on protein, vitamins, and minerals, and concluded:
Myself, I think folks who are looking for a hormonal boost would do better to stick to phytoestrogen, from relatively non-icky sources, like soybeans.
