Traditional iron supplements are a much better way to get this important nutrient post-pregnancy, researchers say.
Celeb moms like Kim Kardashian and Gaby Hoffman have talked about the health boosts they got from eating their babies’ placentas (yep, that's a thing!). But research has found no actual benefits to downing afterbirth—and now, a new study debunks one of the main claims of placenta-eating advocates: Turns out the organ isn't such a great source of iron after all.
Women need especially high amounts of iron during and immediately after pregnancy, and not getting enough of the important mineral is a common problem. Doctors often advise soon-to-be and new moms to take iron supplements to avoid a deficiency, and proponents of placentophagy—that is, the act of eating placenta, either in raw, cooked, or pill form—point to the organ’s high iron content, as well.
To find out if eating placenta really helped boost levels in new moms, medical anthropologists at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) recruited 23 pregnant women. After giving birth, the women took either placenta capsules or placebo pills containing dehydrated beef (considerably lower in iron than the placenta) every day for three weeks. They also had blood tests just before and soon after delivery, and at weeks 1 and 3 post-partum.
Those test results, published this month in the Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, showed no statistically meaningful differences in the iron status of women in the two groups. In fact, the pills provided only 24% of the recommended daily allowance for iron among breastfeeding women.
