Eating human placenta has no benefit for mental health: B.C. study

VANCOUVER – A new study demystifies the supposed benefits to mental health of eating one's own placenta.

The Research Institute of Mental Health and Addiction Services of British Columbia at the University of British Columbia claims that their study found no difference in the mental health of mothers who had eaten their placenta relative to to those of others.

The data comes from a 10-year genetic study conducted among 138 women with a history of mood disorders, including depression and bipolar disorder. The lead investigator, Jehannine Austin, explains that the comparison took into account the psychiatric diagnosis of the mother, the use of drugs, as well as the age and level of income.

She added that mothers who had consumed their placenta did not have more energy, did not increase their vitamin B12 levels, and did not need to be helped less to badfeed than those who had not consumed their placenta. She adds that eating placenta does not seem to worsen mental health either.

Nevertheless, Austin does not recommend this practice, given Health Canada's warning late last year that this could lead to bacterial or viral infections in mothers or their babies.

The Austin study was published online today in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Canada.

Proponents of human placenta preparations believe that it helps prevent postpartum depression, defeat anemia, increase energy levels and boost bad milk production.

Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Alicia Silverstone and Hilary Duff are some of the famous mothers who have popularized the trend, in which the body is sometimes dehydrated and put into capsules, but that attracts more and more attention of the medical world.

"People take them because they see celebrities in the news and talk about their experience. So, other women say to themselves, "Oh, that sounds like a good idea," said Austin, executive director of the research institute. a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia, during a telephone interview Thursday.

"But what we're really trying to do after badyzing our data is that our study does not suggest that it does not help.

"It does not help mood, energy, food, nutrition, or badfeeding."