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« Envirohealth in Blogs: Factory farming the ocean, plus garlic up your nose | Main | Phthalate-induced asthma: Gasping for breath »

April 10, 2008

Can I have a glass of Placenta 1000 with that?

Ah, it’s a great day to be a woman! In fact, every day is a great day to be a woman, especially when it comes to the sacrifices made for beauty. Women are known to make numerous beauty sacrifices, depending on the century they live in, their culture, race and their own priorities.

I thought that nothing could surprise me anymore when it come to women and beauty, when I read that in Japan, a company called Nihon Sofuken (no need to click the link to the web site if you don’t speak Japanese) is selling a drink with an unusual main ingredient: placenta.

Yes, you did hear me right -- it’s the same "ingredient" that is essential for the survival of the developing fetus, only in this case it's pig placenta. Placenta has been used in numerous cultures in various forms and some even eat it. Some say it has regenerative properties.

Placenta was also found in numerous cosmetics products because, according to placenta advocates, it conditions skin and hair. But not everything is that peachy, even though the new drink is peach flavored.

The extracts in cosmetics give the body a slug of hormones that may be enough to spur breast growth in toddlers according to a few recent case studies.
And that's just a little bit. . . imagine ingesting 1000mg of the stuff!

Photo: Annie, a Gloucestershire Old Spot pig, by Nicola Whitaker.

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