Chinese medicine "Zihe car" is the human placenta? Those who are weak should not use it indiscriminately, and there are "these" taboos! The legendary efficacy therapy and traditional Chinese medicine theory are seen at once.
After the birth of his daughter, artist Ban Jie scalded the placenta and umbilical cord left by his wife after giving birth, and also added onions, ginger, and pepper to cook together. According to reports, Banjie heard that eating placenta can nourish beauty and speed up maternal recovery, so he personally cooked it and took it to the hospital to share with his wife Cindy.
Eating your own and your baby's organs sounds incredible, but in fact, there have been records of eating placenta for a long time. The legendary Chinese medicine Zihe Che, which prolongs life and beauty beauty, is a substance made by washing and drying the placenta, which has a lofty status and miraculous effect in the pharmacopoeia.
Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash
What is Zihe Car?
"Zihe car", also known as "coat", refers to a temporary organ attached to the umbilical cord and the uterus, located between the mother and the fetus. In appearance, because it is covered by blood vessels and appears purple, it is called "purple"; Functionally, because the fetus is floating in the abdomen, it is called "river cart".
The ancients believed that the coat of the first baby boy was the most valuable nutrient, and if stolen, it would cause the boy to grow up unable to bear children. Therefore, the human purple river cart has become a very rare Chinese medicinal material that people are vying to purchase, and the "anti-theft" work of protecting the placenta after childbirth is extremely important.
There is a legend that the elixir that Qin Shi Huang pursued throughout his life was the purple river car; More Ye Shi mentioned that Pu Yi groaned and asked for before dying, which was the elixir "River Car Pill" processed and concocted by Zihe Che.
It is its rarity and rarity, as well as these false and ambiguous rumors, that add a little more to the strangeness and mystery of the purple river car, attracting theatrical works to take material from it, such as the costume drama "Yanxi Raiders", which once arranged the plot of stealing the purple river car late at night to enhance the image of the concubine who was planning to pursue a beautiful appearance.
Image|"Yanxi Raiders" stills
What is the role of the purple river car in ancient medical books?
So, what about the TCM theory about eating placenta? Let's take a look at the existence of this Chinese medicine with a long history in various classics and even modern Chinese medicine from the medicinal properties, efficacy and contraindications.
1. Medicinal properties: warm and non-toxic, nourishing blood and qi
"Materia Medica": sweet, warm, non-toxic. Efficacy: Tonic, nourish blood and invigorate qi.
"Materia Medica": Born of my own blood qi, it can greatly replenish qi and blood. Treat all weakness and strain, trance, epilepsy.
The Zihe car in the medical book is mild, can nourish blood and replenish qi, and is especially helpful for women with postpartum qi and blood deficiency.
According to the "Materia Medica", Zihe Che comes from my own body, and has the effect of replenishing qi and nourishing blood. Therefore, eating your own placenta is especially effective, followed by taking someone else's placenta, and again, eating the placenta of mammals such as deer, sheep, and pigs.
(Same scene plus screening: Eat healthy, but also prevent the epidemic!) Because of the epidemic, everyone began to care about the four ingredients)
Second, production: wash and grind the pharmaceutical, or prepare into the dish
"Materia Medica": long running water, extremely clean, wine steaming and baking, grinding, or boiling and mashing into medicine, can also be blended and cooked.
According to the "Materia Medica", washing and cooking and then drying and grinding powder, or cooking into dishes such as the artist Ban Jie, are all in line with the regulations. As for adding deer antler velvet, ginseng, angelica and other Chinese medicines to detoxify the fetal poison and enhance the efficacy when cooked, each family has different formulas and processes.
3. Contraindications: The placenta of a sick woman is forbidden if it has fetal poison and yin deficiency and fire
"Materia Medica": Those who have a new birth and a woman who is not sick are good, and those who have fetal poison harm others.
"Match Materia Medica": Yin and fire are prohibited.
(Extended reading: Keep warm and cold!) Perineal herbal lavender bath to improve blood circulation)
Although it is said that Zihe car can also nourish beauty and nourish the kidneys, patients other than themselves who consume Zihe car may be infected with the virus in the mother's body, which is a great risk. If you get fetal poison, it is harmful to your health.
"Yin deficiency and fire" refers to a state in which the internal organs are weak, lost in nourishment and hypothermia, which will produce symptoms such as fever, night sweats, upset, irritability, etc. "De Materia Medica" believes that people with such a physique are not suitable for taking Zihe Che.
Is it really scientific to eat placenta for postpartum depression?
In fact, not only the East, as early as around 2014, the foreign entertainment industry set off a wave of eating placenta. Courtney. Kourtney Kardashian, Mandy. Celebrities such as Mandy Moore have published their experiences of ingesting placenta after childbirth, pointing out the effect of placenta in balancing hormones in the body and reducing postpartum depression.
In the past five years, Youtube creators in Taiwan have also released relevant images, whether it is postpartum consumption of placenta, or antique method of concocting Zihe car capsules, there are many documentary content and bold challenges.
(Guess you like: are the costume drama birth scenes all real?) Take you to see the "gentle production" 1500 years ago)
Then again, does eating placenta have beauty and anti-depression effects? It is claimed that the placenta has a curative effect because modern medicine believes that postpartum depression is related to hormonal imbalance caused by placental peeling, so there is a conjecture that eating the placenta can make up for hormones.
Although studies have investigated the subjective feelings of pregnant women, many people have experienced an improvement in mood (40%) or milk production (15%) after taking placenta ingredients, its health benefits have not been scientifically proven.
The journal Archives of Women's Mental Health reviewed 10 studies on placenta and found that eating placenta was not helpful in treating postpartum depression, relieving pain after childbirth, strengthening parent-child bonds, or increasing milk production.
Photo by Alex Hockett on Unsplash
Is there any basis for the claim that placenta is replenished? Obviously, the statement that the European and American entertainment industry eats placenta to regulate hormones is likely to be just a misunderstanding from the point of view of modern medicine.
In addition, there is a vertical relationship between the placenta and the mother, and there is a risk of spreading bacteria and viruses. Therefore, eating someone else's placenta is even less recommended. In 2015, China excluded Zihe Che and related proprietary Chinese medicines from the Pharmacopoeia because of their safety risks and unclear efficacy.
Just after production, must it be "supplemented"?
Since ancient times, Chinese medicine has attached great importance to postpartum conditioning "confinement", in the West. Looking at Chinese and Western medicine, there is no standard procedure for maternal maintenance, and there is no food that must be eaten. Instead of bothering to cook the placenta, it is better to focus on rest and replenish balanced nutrients to help the body recover.
(Extended reading: It's not that I gave birth to a child, but that he was ready to leave me: "homeopathic production" changed my relationship with the child and body)
In addition to normal diet, regular work and rest, and adequate rest and companionship, it is also important to do moderate exercise and cultivate leisure in moderation. In terms of environment, paying attention to hygiene and wound care, promoting lochia discharge, and keeping the environment clean and ventilated can avoid the occurrence of infection of birth canal wounds.
At the same time, it is necessary to closely observe the changes in the body to ensure that you can seek help in time when a health condition arises, which is the general principle of recuperation. As a new mother, you don't necessarily need to take supplements, but don't forget to supplement your diet, sleep, and prepare for your good body and mood to become a mother.