Written by Finlay Mead

Animal placenta extracts could be the next big energy-boosting trend to hit the fitness industry, adding to the industry’s meteoric rise in the beauty and grooming sectors.

The health industry is full of strange fads and wacky remedies for all your bodily worries. Most recently, we’ve reported on a topical ketamine cream’s rumoured benefits for your mental health, but news that animal placentas could be making their way into every fitness fanatic’s supplement stash thanks to their pre-workout adjacent energy-enhancing effects has really turned our heads.

The animal placenta extract market has been booming in recent years since its anti-oxidant and anti-aging effects were discovered and quickly rolled out across the beauty sector, with placenta popping up in face masks, anti-aging creams, and a plethora of other skin products. While these were predominantly marketed to women, the later realisation that placenta extract can also offer near-unrivalled hair-growth benefits soon saw it marketed to balding men as well.

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As a result, the placental protein market is now valued at $551 million USD in 2023 and is forecast to hit a staggering $808 million USD value by 2030, according to market research firm Medgadget. However, this number hasn’t just been achieved by preying on the population’s vanity. As summarized by Market Research Intelect, animal placenta also has a whole host of medical applications that could see it become central to worldwide healthcare:

“Its medicinal use is explored for wound healing, immune system modulation, and tissue repair. As research advances, animal placental extract shows promise as a natural source for diverse health benefits, catering to the growing demand for effective and sustainable solutions.”

Market Research Intelect

A less well-known effect of this apparent wonder ingredient is its energy-boosting effects. According to a study published by the National Center For Biotechnology Information, animal placenta extracts may also have fatigue-reducing, energy-boosting effects on healthy adult humans. In a double-blind, randomised, and eight-week-long trial, scientists concluded that Fermented Porcine Placenta (FPP) had a marked effect on energy levels.

“This study is the first clinical trial demonstrating the role of FPP as an anti-fatigue supplement and demonstrated that ingestion significantly ameliorated fatigue-related biochemical parameters and improved fatigue.”

NCBI Study

Most interesting from a fitness point of view, however, was the study’s nod to future avenues of research:

“[Although] this study did not examine the potential additive effect of FPP on regular exercise… investigating the potential additive effect of FPP to improve exercise performance or recovery may be the future direction in a study for FPP.”

NCBI Study

The study also hints at the “subjective feelings of strength and muscle function” experienced by test subjects while using the FP supplement. All of this makes FPP sound rather like the pre-workouts we see adorning supermarket shelves and the kitchen cupboards of your local adonis all around the world, which made us wonder whether — as strange as it sounds — placenta could become the next pre-workout.

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