Unhealthy fashion trend The placenta is by no means superfood

Experts warn: placenta is not suitable as a "superfood"

Hollywood greats like Kim Kardashian have let the public know that after giving birth to their offspring, they have consumed portions of the nut cake. Many non-celebrities are also enthusiastic about the new trend. Finally, the consumption of the placenta is associated with a variety of positive effects. Health experts, however, advise mothers not to eat the placenta after birth.

New trend: eating the nut cake

More and more women want to take their own placenta after childbirth in order to eat it for "health reasons". In particular, prominent women from the USA tell about social and other media, in which form they have taken their baby's cake. On many esoteric and alternative medical websites you will find instructions and even cooking recipes for the preparation of the supposedly healthy placenta. This tissue, which is rejected after birth, is stylized by some as "superfood". But health experts advise mothers to stay away from it.

Some mothers eat parts of the placenta after birth because of their health benefits. Experts now warn against this trend. (Image: magdal3na / fotolia.com)

Health benefits of consuming the placenta?

Many mammals eat their placenta after the birth of the young. So why should this be bad for mothers??

Followers of "placentophagy" assume that the consumption of the sweet cake is associated with a variety of positive effects.

The placenta is usually ground to powder, boiled or freeze-dried and taken in the form of capsules, pills or globules.

Due to its high nutritional content and hormone content, it is supposed to improve the milk production of the breastfeeding mother, to prevent the postpartum depression as well as to bring new energy and a faster regression after pregnancy.

In addition, she should provide a strong immune system and a beautiful complexion and compensate for an existing iron deficiency.

In addition, such capsules are used by some women to treat sleep problems, inflammation and scarring, as well as to counteract skin aging and to control the hormone balance of menstrual disorders and menopausal symptoms.

No scientific evidence

However, experts point out that there is no scientific evidence for the alleged positive effects.

For example, a team of researchers from Northwestern University in Chicago (USA) found in an evaluation of ten trials on placental esophagitis that there were no benefits from eating the placenta.

As the scientists at that time reported in the journal "Archives often Women's Mental Health", the consumption of the nut cake rather poses a potential health risk, since it is by no means sterile.

The gynecologist Alex Farr from the Medical University of Vienna also researched the topic, which is still largely taboo. The results of his work have now been published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

High levels of heavy metals detected
Farr, who conducted his research in cooperation with the Weill Cornell Medical Center at the New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York, said in a statement:

"Medically, the placenta is a waste product. Most mammals eat the placenta after birth, but we can only guess why they do it. After the placenta belongs genetically to the newborn, eating the placenta borders on cannibalism. "

The scientist sees no evidence of medical benefits. "On the contrary, because the suspected nutrients such as iron, selenium and zinc are not in sufficient concentrations in the placenta."

Farr continued, "However, high concentrations of heavy metals in the placenta have been found to accumulate during pregnancy."

Legal gray area

And above all, the consumption, which usually happens in the form of processed capsules or globules, also carries an infection risk.

"It was only in June 2017 that the US Department of Health's Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially warned of this trend because of a recent case," said Farr.

"The baby of a mother who had eaten placenta capsules suffered life-threatening streptococcal sepsis several times. These bacteria could be detected in the placenta capsules of the mother and were probably transferred from her to the child. "

As a problem, the gynecologist sees that it is a legal gray area, whether the desire of women is taken to take the tissue.

Only if placental reconnaissance seems medically necessary can this be clearly forbidden. In any case, Farr advises urgently to point out the risk to the young mothers. (Ad)