530 - Diversion

Here's a little something to divert your attention from the election process. This is from New Scientist magazine. It's a sidebar from an article on extreme childbirth. It's a short little sidebar but every sentence has you going - what?! Then WHAT?! Then WHAAAT!!!! Here you go .....


HOW TO RECYCLE A PLACENTA

Women who are interested in more natural forms of childbirth are sometimes reluctant to treat the placenta, the spongy, blood-vessel-rich organ that sustained their baby for so long, as mere medical waste. Many choose to bury it in their garden and plant a tree over the top.

Those with the courage can eat it. The placenta has been claimed to prevent post-natal depression, although research evidence is lacking. If raw placenta lacks appeal, a quick internet search will turn up several recipes. For some reason placenta lasagna is a recurring theme.

The traditional Chinese approach is to dehydrate the placenta under a low heat and grind it up to make a powder. This can be sprinkled over food or taken neat.

You can even make placenta skin cream, by adding a few tablespoons of the powder to clarified butter. Animal placenta is an ingredient of several expensive anti-ageing creams, and some firms say they use human placenta.

Those of an artistic bent can make their very own placenta print using the excess blood to transfer the intricate tree-like pattern of vessels onto paper or fabric. Be warned: blood fades in strong light, so the print should be kept under UV-proof glass.