Instructions for Preparing Raw Placenta Smoothies, Placenta Capsules and Placenta Tincture Simultaneously

Supplies:

-Glass/metal bowl

-Hot water

-Scissors or knife

-Latex gloves if you want – gloves aren’t really necessary since it’s your placenta, but if you are squeamish then gloves might help psychologically.

-A blender

-A food processor or coffee grinder (coffee grinder is ideal)

-A food dehydrator – if you don’t have a dehydrator you can also do it in the oven

-Smoothie ingredients (any smoothie recipe will do. One of my personal favorites it’s 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup yogurt, 1 cup frozen berries and honey to taste. Let me know if you don’t do dairy and I can give you another good one.)

-150 Empty capsules – you can get these in the bulk section at Whole Foods for super cheap. Just call Whole Foods first to make sure they carry them. Certain locations don’t. You can also get them from most herb shops and most naturopaths.

-An encapsulator. You can order these offline or get them at lots of herb shops. If you want to save money and not use an encapsulator then you can just put the placenta powder in a jar and add a teaspoon of it to your morning oatmeal, your mashed potatoes, etc. Putting it in capsules just makes it more convenient.

-80-100 proof vodka

-Glass jars for smoothies, and two glass jars for your tincture.

-Dropper bottle for your tincture – you could use any vessel if you don’t want to buy a dropper bottle, but the dropper bottle just makes it more convenient to take.

Step 1 – put the placenta into a metal or glass bowl and surround the bowl with hot water to start defrosting the placenta. This will probably take about 30 minutes to defrost, and will go quicker if you keep the water hot. It does not have to be 100% defrosted, but just has to be to the point that you can cut into it.

Step 2 – While the placenta is defrosting – clear off a space on your counter and make sure it’s clean. Wash a pair of scissors or a sharp knife (I find scissors to be easier).

Step 3 – Once it’s defrosted enough to handle, cut away the membrane of the amniotic sac, and cut off the umbilical cord. Discard the membrane and save the cord if you want – you can put it in the shape of a heart and dehydrate it and it makes an awesome keepsake.

Step 4 – Cut off a piece of the placenta about the size of half of a dollar bill and place it in a quart size jar for your tincture. Fill the jar with water so the placenta is completely covered. Place jar in the sun for four hours.

Step 5 – Cut off half dollar size pieces of the placenta for the the smoothies. I would recommended making 10 smoothies, so cut off 10 pieces that size.

Step 6 – Measure the smoothie ingredients into the blender. For a standard size blender you can make two smoothies at a time, so double the recipe I gave you above. Throw in two pieces of placenta and blend away. Pour the smoothies into jars and keep a few in the fridge to drink right away, and put the rest in the freezer to drink at a later date.

Step 7 – Cut up the rest of the placenta into small pieces. Take the pieces and the umbilical cord if you want and lay – either on the racks of your food dehydrator or on slotted grill rack type pan (with a pan underneath to catch the drippings) to put in your regular oven. If you’re using a dehydrator – dehydrate at 110 degrees for 12-24 hours. If you’re using an oven – set your oven to the lowest setting. Ideally it would also be at 110. However, some ovens (mine included) do not go that low. The lowest setting may be 170 or so. If this is the case then you’ll want to just keep a closer eye on it as it’s dehydrating, as it may dehydrate much faster – start watching it at about 4 hours.

Step 8 – Retrieve the placenta/water mixture that has been sitting in the sun. Discard the piece of placenta. Add enough water and vodka so that the mix is 50 percent vodka and 50 percent placenta water. This mix will keep almost indefinitely if stored in the fridge. It will make loads and loads of tincture. Now take your dropper bottle and fill it with 50% regular water and 50% vodka. Add 7-10 drops of the placenta water and now you’ve got your tincture. This seems like a very small amount, but it has been said that it works through the energy of the placenta water and the vibrational properties of it. Many women that have had postpartum depression swear by it.

Step 9 – Put the dehydrated pieces into a coffee grinder or food processor. Blend until it’s a fine powder. If you’re using a grinder this should take less than a minute. If you’re using a food processor it may take several minutes and you may be left with kind of a gritty powder – this is ok.

Step 10 – if you are not using capsules then just put the powder in a jar. Store in the freezer and it will keep almost indefinitely. If you are using an encapsulator then go ahead and get that set up with your empty capsules and start filling away. Most placentas make between 100 and 200 capsules. The capsules will keep almost indefinitely also if stored in the freezer. Uses: Helps with postpartum depression if already present, helps to prevent postpartum depression (which doesn’t necessarily have to be present immediately after birth. It can settle in weeks or months after), helps with milk supply, helps with energy levels and mood swings. The benefits are endless – google it! 🙂

Dosage: Smoothies – I would recommended drinking a few of the smoothies as soon as possible. Drink one per day – these can be the smoothies you keep in the fridge. Then you can put the rest of the smoothies in the freezer and save them for when you’re having a particularly trying day, or are having issues with milk supply, etc. The smoothies will be the the placenta in it’s strongest form.

Capsules or powder: After you’re done with the smoothies, you can start taking 2 capsules 3 times per day, or one teaspoon of the powder 3 times per day. There really is no taste to the powder so you can add it to just about anything. Taper this down over the weeks. So do 2 capsules 3 times per day for a week. Then do 2 capsules 2 times per day for a week. Then do 2 capsules once per day for a week. Then save the rest of the capsules or powder to use on an as needed basis.

Tincture: The tincture will literally keep indefinitely and can be used into menopause. Many women swear by it helping with PMS, or just take a few drops when they’re having a bad day. It also can be given to baby during teething, times of fussiness and into toddlerhood and childhood if they’re out of control, particularly whiny or unsettled, etc.

~ by 2DoulasOnAMisson on June 8, 2011.