'I ate my wife's placenta wanted to know what it would taste like' -New father (photos)

Nick Baines cooked and ate his wife's placenta (pictured) after the birth of his son

The idea of eating bloody human flesh would be repulsive and inconceivable to most people.

But one new father has told how he ate his wife’s placenta raw in a smoothie, and cooked in a taco.

Nick Baines, a food and travel writer, says he made the decision because he wanted to know how it would taste.

Writing in The Guardian, he said: ‘As I seasoned it on the chopping board, the bright, almost glowing red chunk of placenta was more attractive than many cuts of offal I've dealt with, and looked quite appetising. 

‘The meat was rich, with a beef-like quality. It was tender, kind of like roast brisket and not dissimilar to Texas BBQ.’

Mr Baines says he was interested in trying the placenta from the moment he and his wife first started to discuss having a baby.

He said that he is in inquisitive meat-eater and that he was reluctant to miss out on this rare opportunity.

However, he admits that the idea became rather less appealing when he was faced with the newly removed placenta and the bewildered, and slightly repulsed, midwives.

In the end, rather than taking the whole placenta, he left the hospital with ‘a few cheeky steaks

Mr Baines made the placenta into a smoothie and put it in tacos with paprika and garlic (pictured)

 

The next day, while his wife hid in a different room, he blended part of the raw flesh to make a smoothie.

And the taste? 'Up front was the distinct flavour of banana, superseded by a metallic, bloody backnote. It had a mineral earthiness to it and tasted exactly like the delivery room had smelled.'

In contrast, he says he actually enjoyed the cooked flesh which he served in a taco with garlic and paprika.

And, while he had read stories of women feeling very emotional after eating their placentas, he found his mood did not change.

Placentophagy - or the eating of the placenta - has become increasingly popular in recent years.

Some mothers now eat their placentas in the hope of reaping health benefits from fending off post-natal depression to improving milk supply.

However, those who are too squeamish for this now have another option.

They can pay to have their placentas transformed into little pills that can be taken for years after the birth.

The companies that make these pills say they are full of essential nutrients and hormones and that they can help reduce stress and aid mother-child bonding.

Mad Men star January Jones has admitted that she took placenta pills after the birth of her child in the hope of warding off baby blues and of keeping her strength up.

However, critics argue that there is no evidence that eating the placenta offers any health benefits and that it can actually cause infections.

The only thing that people know for sure is that there is no proof that eating the placenta is beneficial and that people should never eat someone else’s placenta because there is a risk of disease.