Fad Alert: Human Mother's Are Eating Their own Placentas. What Does Science Say?

Kim Kardashian and January Jones are among the throngs of celebrities promoting the vast benefits of a recent fad; Placentophagy. There is a good chance that you have caught wind of this trend that many new mothers are following in which they eat their own placenta after birth. The natural supplement industry has also jumped on the bandwagon and you can now buy placenta capsules as a part of your post-partum health regiment. Initially, this concept may sound foreign and revolting to the average person, but plenty of new moms have decided that the evidence in support of the practice is convincing enough to give it a shot. A study in 2013 reported that 95% of mothers who ate their own placenta self-reported positive effects and that only 2 of the 189 women involved were not impressed (Selender, 2013).

The popularity of a movement like this is something that the public should remain skeptical of, because there is very little scientific research to back up the idea that placenta eating is good for people. Meanwhile, there are no studies that have investigated the potential risks involved. Dr. Cynthia Coyle is the lead author of a 2015 Northwestern Medicine review that examined 10 current published research studies on placentophagy. Based on the conclusions of the review, she says, "Our sense is that women choosing placentophagy, who may otherwise be very careful about what they are putting into their bodies during pregnancy and nursing, are willing to ingest something without evidence of its benefits and, more importantly, of its potential risks to themselves and their nursing infants."(Paul, 2015)

Currently, placentophagy can be considered a combination of fad and pseudoscience, and everything that falls into that category needs to be promoted as such. Most of the “scientific” claims made on blogs and other websites are not actually backed by relevant research. It could be that in time research shows that the practice is an advantageous one where the benefits far outweigh the risks. But, at this point in time such evidence does not exist, and if anything the known risks involved outweigh the unproven benefits. It is important that medical professionals are able to promote awareness about the practice to their patients, as it is becoming increasingly popular (Paul, 2015).

Proponents of placentophagy believe that it is natural (and thus harmless) because other mammals eat their placentas, because it has been prescribed in some traditional medicines, and because certain tribes or cultures have done it in the past. Believing that such grounds are valid reasons for accepting something as sound, is ignorant and potentially dangerous. There is a tendency for advertising to romanticize nature, past customs and perceived exotic places or people. This sort of fetishisation does not equate medical safety or reliability. Just because something has been performed in a particular culture and time, or may be a part of an ancient medicinal recipe doesn't qualify it as safe or effective. Secondly, the thinking that humans should naturally mimic the behaviours of all other mammals is also faulty.While animal testing can lead to medical breakthroughs and we do resemble other mammals in many ways, we can not assume that just because other mammals participate in a behaviour, means that we should as well. Each animal obviously has unique traits that it won't share with others. Humans are the only mammals that talk, blush, walk upright among other things. Thus, saying that since a horse or a dog eats its placenta means that we should as well, is not a logical argument in the absence of scientific proof.

The natural supplement industry benefits from the belief that placentophagy is good, and they are turning a profit on the unsubstantiated claim that 'placenta pills' improve energy and eradicate post-partum depression, among other things. This industry is a powerful economic force to be reckoned with, just like the traditional pharmaceutical industry is. The supplement industry is not regulated in the same fashion, however. It is not obligated to uphold clean production conditions or to expose its products to rigorous testing. Thus, the promotion of health fads is a convenient way to get people spending money on things that go into their bodies, without providing solid scientific research about whether or not that thing is beneficial or harmful. Saying that something is based on an ancient medicine or tradition, or claiming that it is all natural are popular sales pitches that can fool people into believing that these claims somehow equate effectiveness.

What do the advocates of placentophagy have to say about supporting research? There are numerous websites that promote the practice, and they list the same limited series of scientific studies in order to back up their claims. While reviewing pro-placentophagy websites, The top two scientific studies performed on humans are listed below along with excerpts from their abstracts. Admittedly, they seem to report positive findings, but take a look at the dates:

1. The effect of the maternal ingestion of desiccated placenta upon the rate of growth of breast-fed infants Hammett, F. S. (1918). Journal of Biological Chemistry, 36(3), 569-573.

"The effect of the ingestion of the dsiccated placenta by the mothers on the rate of growth of the breast-feeding infants is at once apparent. [...] the mean increase over the normal percent change in weight on the 13th day being over 60 percent."

1. Placenta as Lactagagon Soykova-Pachnerova E, et. al.(1954). Gynaecologia 138(6):617-627.

“An attempt was made to increase milk secretion in mothers by administration of dried placenta per os. Of 210 controlled cases only 29 (13.8%) gave negative results; 181 women (86.2%) reacted positively to the treatment, 117 (55.7%) with good and 64 (30.5%) with very good results. The question of a hormonal influence remains open. So far it could be shown that progesterone is probably not active in increasing lactation after administration of dried placenta.”

To be fair, there are a handful more studies on placentophagy. Below are links to the top three pro-placentophagy websites that come up with the Google search “placentophagy research”.

1. http://placentabenefits.info/research.asp

1. http://www.dallasplacentaencapsulation.com/placenta-articles-research/research/

2. http://www.placentawise.com/research-studies-supporting-placenta- encapsulation/

While these sites may claim that placentophagy “is science” most of the scientific studies listed were performed on rats and a majority are at least 25-30 years old. None of them had placebo control groups. Note that the third site, Placentawise.com, which totes the slogan, “It's not weird or freaky or gross, it's science” is in the business of selling placenta pill and tincture packages in the range of $200-$350. The fact that these sites are presenting this limited and dated research as hard science in 2016, is misleading. Many people are not fully scientifically literate, and taking advantage of such people and trying to trick them into believing that reliable science means a few ancient studies mainly performed on another species is dubious.

When looking for reliable scientific research, it is important to look for peer-reviewed literature that has been published preferably in the last five years, especially when it comes to something as important as the health of you and your baby. Relying on one or two studies published 60-100 years ago is not valid, and it is potentially dangerous in that it promotes misinformation about health subjects. Even studies from 10 years ago in the health field are considered dated in many instances.We all know that science is a field that evolves rapidly, and that is why it is important that the information we trust is up to date. In 2016, You wouldn't want a doctor with standard 1918 training skills performing your cataracts surgery. You also would not be pleased if someone came up to you on the street offering to give your child an injection of a super vitamin that had last been tested on rats in 1945. However, when we rely on uninformed and dated sources to give us our scientific information, that is essentially what we are doing. Of course, this is not really just about placentophagy, but it is about the importance of looking for valid scientific research throughout our lives, and being aware of when someone is trying to trick us under the guise of pseudoscience.

What other concrete concerns do doctors and scientists have about the fad? While it is known that the placenta contains hormones and iron, the exact make up of the placenta has not been studied, so the truth is that we actually aren't sure of exactly what is in there. In particular, we have no idea what may happen to potential nutrients or toxins when the placenta is cooked in a meal or dried into capsules. While a minority of moms will take the risk and eat it raw, cooking or encapsulating is how most people get their placenta intake due to safety reasons. There is also concern of contamination. The placenta acts as a filter for all of the toxins that are in your system and keeps them from reaching your baby. It is thus a vault for potentially dangerous bacteria or even heavy metals, like mercury. It was long believed that the placenta was sterile until 2014 when scientists discovered that, like every organ in the body, it is a host for bacteria similar to those found in the mouth, vagina or digestive tracts. Numerous studies have concluded that the placenta attracts heavy metals, one 2013 study stated,

“Heavy metals (HMs) are environmental contaminants with toxic properties for wildlife and humans. The placenta...acts as a filter reducing the passage of harmful substances, protecting the embryo and then the fetus from exposure to pollutants. The placental barrier is not completely impermeable to the passage of harmful substances; indeed, HMs were detected not only in placental tissues, but also in amniotic fluid and umbilical cord blood.” (Caserta, 2013)

Also, even in a clean hospital environment birthing conditions are never sterile. The vagina is not sterile, and most mothers will defecate during the process, so the raw placenta is inevitably going to be contaminated with human faeces in most cases. According to OBGYN Dr. Marra Francis, even if the raw placenta did theoretically contain nutrients it is irrelevant because, "You have to cook at sterilization levels, and at that point, you've denatured all of the proteins and the hormones that you think are going to help you heal...You have to cook at such high levels to kill bacteria that you will kill everything you think is good, too. (Aagard, 2014)"

Dr. Crystal Clark was one of the co authors of the 2015 Northwestern Medicine review that examined 10 current published research studies on placentophagy. “There are a lot of subjective reports from women who perceived benefits, but there hasn’t been any systematic research investigating the benefits or the risk of placenta ingestion...The studies on mice aren’t translatable into human benefits”, she says.

In conclusion, upon examination of the scientific evidence for placentophagy it is clear that there is currently no valid reason for human placenta consumption. There are, however, numerous concrete reasons to avoid it, such as contamination and the fact that the necessary step of cooking to sterilization would kill any perceived beneficial nutrients.

The best lesson that this celebrity fad delivers, is that when something is presented as science, its important to check when that research was performed and if it was peer reviewed. Lastly, it's important to be aware of the danger in assuming that just because something is natural, ancient or exotic, means that it must be beneficial and that it should be copied without thorough investigation into its effects. Placentophagy can currently be considered a pseudoscience due to lacking evidence to back it up. There is a good chance that within a few years the trend will fade and be replaced with something else; hopefully it isn't something even riskier. The best thing that we can do as members of the consuming public is to arm ourselves with knowledge and good research skills, so that we are increasingly able to make informed decisions about our health, and ultimately our world.

Sources:

Survey of Mother's Experiences with Placenta Consumption Selander, Jodi, et al. "Human maternal placentophagy: A survey of self-reported motivations and experiences associated with placenta consumption." Ecology of food and nutrition 52.2 (2013): 93-115.

The effect of the maternal ingestion of desiccated placenta upon the rate of growth of breast-fed infants Hammett, F. S. (1918). Journal of Biological Chemistry, 36(3), 569-573.

Placenta as Lactagagon Soykova-Pachnerova E, et. al.(1954). Gynaecologia 138(6):617-627.

Paul, Marla. "EATING THE PLACENTA: TRENDY BUT NO PROVEN HEALTH BENEFITS AND UNKNOWN RISKS No Scientific Evidence That It Protects against Depression, Pain or Other Benefits: Northwestern University. Northwestern University, 4 June 2014. Web.

Carlson Daly, Meredeth. "Eating the Placenta after Birth Carries No Health Benefits, New Study Finds." Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. N.p., May-June 2015. Web.

"Should I Eat My Placenta? Placentophagy and Placenta Pills." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.

"Placenta Benefits.info - Placentophagy Research." Placenta Benefits.info - Placentophagy Research. Placenta Benefits, n.d. Web.

"Scientific Research." Dallas Placenta Encapsulation. N.p., n.d. Web.

"Services."PlacentaWise RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2016. <http://www.placentawise.com/our-services/>.

Caserta, C. "Heavy Metals and Placental Fetal-maternal Barrier: A Mini-review on the Major Concerns." European Review of Medical Pharmaceutical Science (2013): n. pag. Web.

Kjersti, Aagaard. "The Placenta Harbors a Unique Microbiome." Science Translational Medicine 6.237 (2014): n. pag. Web.