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Q: why does chinese eat human placenta???
i hear from Chinese doctors that Chinese people love to eat placenta because of its nutritional values. Any one heard some news's like this before? Discuss.
Yeah, a lot pregnant women eat that. It‘s kind of medicine for them.
I think it stems from the notion, true or not, that placenta is full of nutrients. There aren't many qualms about safety, ethics or quite simply of how absolutely revolting the idea may be. There was a story about this a while back about nurses in certain hospitals of Guangdong selling placenta for 20 RMB...
Where have you ever seen someone eating a placenta? I have been involved with Chinese medicine for over 30 years and it is used as a herb in a formula along with other plant and animal parts. This has been done for thousand of years.
Which is more human? Using it as medicine or taking stem cells from them for research?
Even women in other parts of the world eat their after-birth. It may sound gross to many, but it is actually one of the best and nutritious things a woman can eat right after giving birth. I've heard of many Western women putting in a freezer and eating it gradually.
However, while I personally can tolerate the idea of a woman eating her own placenta, I do admit it gives me the shudders when I think of people eating other people's. Did anyone read the book Red Dust by Ma Jian? In it, he describes how during his travels in China during the 70's, steamed buns with women's placentas from a nearby maternity hospital were served in a town he travelled through. Doesn't sound so appetizing to me! 
In many cultures, including some of those crazy westerners, women (some, not all) will eat their own placenta after giving birth. It contains nutrients and vitamins a perfect balance of hormones that help the mother recover after child birth. It is believed to prevent postpartum depression and other issues of child birth. Many mammals do it to help regulate breast milk, and to clean and shrink the uterus after child birth. Since we are mammals... With TCM so strongly cored in natural curing, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if it's customary for Chinese women to do it. It can be dried and powdered and tossed into some tea. Or something. Just another reason to not want to spew a kid from my loin.
