A Japanese company is marketing a line of health drinks and beauty products with a special secret ingredient: Placenta.Nobody embraces the mystery and power of childbirth like me, home-birthing mom of two. But a line must be drawn somewhere, and I believe I'm not alone when I say the line will be drawn at ingesting the afterbirth.
But that's just me. There's a lot of historical precedent for eating a placenta, I'm told. It's chock full of nutrients and minerals lost during childbirth. Women who ingest their placenta in some form after birth reportedly say they feel more upbeat and are less prone to post-partum depression. Lots of mammals do it. And hey, a placenta is vegan. Even though it's meat (I think...), no creature had to die to procure it.Still. I'll take a pass. No, really. I've seen a couple.
But you gotta credit the Japanese for their innovation as well as they're unsqueamishness. A company called Nihon Sofuken is taking the acknowledged health properties of the placenta and turning them into a line of health and beauty products, including drinks, jellies and face masks! How wonderful!
And to make sure you're not grossed out by the prospect of human afterbirth in your face mask product, Nihon Sofuken uses pig placenta instead. Oh Boy oh boy. And to make their products that much more appealing, the company has thoughtfully added a delicate peach flavoring.
Not sold yet? The marketing copy tells us that both Marie-Antoinette and Cleopatra used placenta in their beauty regimes.
Hmm. I'm gonna say this is a cultural thing and leave it at that.
How about you? Any readers have any experience with placenta products - your own or from another "manufacturer?"
10 More Dirty Restaurant Tricks
5 Things You Didn't Know About Turducken
10 Catchiest Food Jingles We Love to Hate
