In The News: Department of Anthropology
Hey new moms, don't put down that can of spinach just yet. A research team led by UNLV medical anthropologists found that eating encapsulated human placenta, a practice known as placentophagy, may not be as good a source of dietary iron for postpartum mothers as proponents suggest.
Eating placenta isn’t common among women who have just given birth, but the practice is growing. Advocates say it reduces pain, increases energy levels and milk production, and generally eases recovery.
Violence has been part of human storytelling probably since the first human told the first story. Today, it remains a literary drawing card for readers of all genres.
I was originally interested in women’s health and pediatrics as an undergraduate, [but] a medical-anthropology course just blew my mind. I fell in love with this notion that to really understand people and how they’re doing, you need to understand them in this broad cross-cultural perspective.
Chimpanzees share 96 per cent of our DNA, making them our closest living relatives. So it's only natural that the animal might hold the secret to a good night's sleep.
Nearly a dozen people were arrested in Hilldale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona, home to the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints.
According to one cookbook on the subject, you can mix your raw placenta with yoghurt and fruit in a blender and make a smoothie. Or add it to ground beef in a lasagna recipe. Or make chocolate truffles out of it. Dice it, slice it, sauté it with onions, dehydrate it and grind it up – it seems there’s no wrong way to eat placenta.
A low-fiber diet decimated the diversity of bacterial species in mice colonized with human gut microbes in a recent study.
Pets could be the key to having a perfect date, a new study suggests. Researchers found that men with adopted pets are deemed more attractive, especially those with dogs, as women consider these animals as the “hottest” pet.
The saying "love me, love my dog" may have some basis in reality: A new study suggests that pets can influence how we perceive potential dates.
Guys, forget the chocolates, flowers, and pheromone colognes. The secret to finding your everlasting love could be as simple as walking your dog.
Attention dog-loving singles! A new study has confirmed what so many dog park visits and “yappy hours” and gimmicky Instagram accounts have already made so obvious: Your furry friend can help get you laid.