Oskar's and My Placenta, Steamed
In East Asian Medicine, human placenta is a healing post-partum tonic for both mother and nursing baby.
For the mother, the placenta provides nourishment on the order of restoring the qi and blood that was lost during birth. As such, taking the placenta can enhance lactation, uplift the spirit, and provide a new mother with some much-needed ballast.
For the nursing baby, here is a rare and precious opportunity to boost her/his pre-natal jing. Pre-natal jing is the treasure and inheritance that each person receives from her/his parents, and is therefore something that cannot be renewed or restored. We consume it continuously as we live our lives, and death comes to us once this store is spent.
Personally, Dan and I felt there was something very special about consuming the placenta. It represented the organ that grew out of the powerful love that Dan and I had for each other, so powerful as to call forth and hold a new life. It represented the organ that provided an important, sacred boundary between Oskar and me; it both bonded him to me as well as shielded him from me during his forty-one weeks inside. Eating it was the most natural thing to do. It was also very exciting and sensational!
Here is the recipe Dan used in preparing the placenta. It is best for the placenta be prepared with intention and love.
1. Rinse the placenta;
2. Steam the placenta, with a hot pepper, slices of ginger, and a slice of lime in the water, over low heat for 15 minutes;
2. Steam the placenta, with a hot pepper, slices of ginger, and a slice of lime in the water, over low heat for 15 minutes;
3. Turn it over and continue to steam for another 15 minutes;
4. After steaming, slice the placenta into thin strips;
5. Lay the strips on a baking sheet and place them in the oven on warm (lowest setting);
6. Dry the placenta strips until they are dehydrated enough to snap (about 8 to 10 hours);
7. Break the dry strips into smaller pieces and then grind them to powder with a mortar and pestle.
4. After steaming, slice the placenta into thin strips;
5. Lay the strips on a baking sheet and place them in the oven on warm (lowest setting);
6. Dry the placenta strips until they are dehydrated enough to snap (about 8 to 10 hours);
7. Break the dry strips into smaller pieces and then grind them to powder with a mortar and pestle.
8. Consume daily, and store in a cool, dark place.
How did it taste?
To me, very gamey and primal.
I felt like a wild animal when I took my daily tablespoon dose.
Hola Nancy.
ReplyDeleteGracias por compartir tu información sobre la experiencia de tu maternidad y el consumo de tu placenta.
La forma de consumir la placenta es mejor cruda, en el momento del parto. Cuando se le añaden otras sustancias que le cambian el Ph (Acido-alcalino) o calientas la placenta, se desnaturalizan las hormonas y demás sustancias beneficiosas que contiene.
De todas formas, haberla consumido te habrá aportado mucha energía y habrá beneficiado tambien a Oscar a través de tu lactancia.
Felicidades.
Sergio Sánchez. Islas Canarias
Hello Nancy,
ReplyDeleteI'm a Traditional Chinese Medicine student and, actually, I'm doing my final investigation's project about the TCM and the post-partum.
I just found your blog and all this information and I wonder if you could please email me the reference of this entry & the placentophagy.
Thank you very much in advance and for sure, if you would be interest (and if you can read spanish :)! ) I will send you the my work when it will be finished!
My email is: saripondia @ gmail.com
Gracias!