Benefits of Eating Placenta: What the Research Actually Shows

The idea of eating placenta — whether human or animal — has attracted growing popular attention, particularly among new mothers. Claims range from improved mood and energy after childbirth to better milk production and faster recovery. But what does the science actually show, and how does this topic fit into broader nutritional research?

This article separates the established from the speculative.

What Is Placentophagy?

Placentophagy is the practice of consuming placenta after birth. It is common across most mammalian species. In humans, the practice is rare historically but has gained visibility in recent decades, particularly in Western countries, often in the form of encapsulated placenta — where the organ is dehydrated, ground, and placed into supplement capsules.

Less commonly, some people consume it raw, cooked, or blended into food.

The human placenta is a nutrient-dense organ. It contains iron, zinc, protein, hormones (including estrogen and progesterone), and various bioactive compounds. The logic behind consuming it centers on replenishing nutrients lost during childbirth and reintroducing hormones that drop sharply after delivery.

What Nutrients Does Human Placenta Contain?

These nutrients and compounds are real. Whether they survive processing, remain bioavailable after digestion, and reach the bloodstream in meaningful quantities is a different — and largely unresolved — question.

What Does the Research Show? 🔬

This is where the evidence gets thin.

A widely cited 2018 systematic review published in Archives of Women's Mental Health examined available research on human placentophagy and found no credible scientific evidence supporting the claimed benefits for postpartum recovery, mood, milk supply, or energy. The review noted that most available claims were anecdotal or based on self-reported surveys rather than controlled clinical trials.

A small pilot study from the same research group found that encapsulated placenta did not produce detectable hormonal changes in postpartum women compared to a beef placebo — suggesting that hormone content either doesn't survive processing or doesn't reach meaningful blood levels after digestion.

Animal studies on placentophagy exist but are not straightforwardly applicable to humans. In rodents and other mammals, ingesting placenta has been linked to pain-modulating effects, but the biological mechanisms and contexts differ substantially from human postpartum physiology.

The honest summary: the proposed benefits are biologically plausible in concept, but remain largely unsubstantiated by rigorous human research.

Why Do So Many People Report Feeling Better?

This is a legitimate question. Survey data consistently shows that many people who consume their placenta report positive experiences — improved energy, better mood, reduced postpartum blues.

Several factors may explain this without confirming a direct effect of the placenta itself:

• Placebo effect, which is well-documented and physiologically real in its own right
• Selection bias — people who choose placentophagy often have strong support networks and health-conscious habits that independently support recovery
• Normal postpartum recovery, which typically improves over days and weeks regardless of intervention
• Iron replenishment, which is a genuine nutritional need postpartum and could explain some energy improvements if iron levels were low

These alternative explanations don't disprove a benefit — they simply mean the evidence doesn't yet distinguish between them.

Are There Risks? ⚠️

The CDC issued a public health advisory in 2017 after a newborn developed recurring group B Streptococcus infection linked to the mother consuming encapsulated placenta. This raised concerns that improper processing of placenta pills may not reliably eliminate pathogens.

Additional concerns include:

• Contaminants: The placenta filters toxins during pregnancy and may retain environmental pollutants, heavy metals, or other substances
• Hormonal interference: Reintroducing estrogen and progesterone postpartum — even in small amounts — may have unpredictable effects depending on individual hormone levels
• Processing variability: There are no standardized regulations governing placenta encapsulation services

How Individual Factors Shape Outcomes

Even setting aside the limited evidence, outcomes would vary considerably based on:

• Postpartum iron status — someone with significant blood loss may respond differently to an iron-containing food than someone with adequate iron stores
• Method of preparation — raw, cooked, or encapsulated forms involve different levels of heat, processing, and potential nutrient degradation
• Hormone baseline — individual hormonal fluctuations postpartum differ considerably and would affect how any additional hormonal compounds interact
• Overall diet — someone with nutritional gaps may experience different outcomes than someone already eating a nutrient-dense diet
• Medications — certain postpartum medications may interact with hormone-containing foods or supplements

The Gap Between Concept and Evidence

The nutrients in placenta are real. The physiological rationale for replenishing them after childbirth is sound. But the specific claim — that eating placenta is a meaningful or superior way to achieve that replenishment — hasn't been established by controlled research.

Whether the practice makes sense for any given person depends on factors the research can't yet resolve at a population level, and that no general article can assess for an individual: their postpartum health status, existing nutrient levels, hormone profile, diet, and specific recovery needs.