In my last blog I explored the recent research (rather the lack of research) on the safety and efficacy of ingesting your placenta after birth. One of the top reasons why women said they planned on eating their placenta was to improve their mood and reduce their risk of postpartum mood disorders (there is no good evidence yet that it is the placenta and not placebo).

One fascinating paper I came across was by a group of Canadian researchers demonstrating a significant improvement in mood in the first days of postpartum with a combination of 3 supplements. Research suggests that severe postpartum baby blues is strongly predictive of a mum developing postpartum depression so this may be a simple way of reducing your risk.

As you may know there’s a huge drop in hormones postpartum. Most women will experience ‘baby blues’ in the first few days which usually resolves itself. In human studies, the most prominent brain change identified in baby blues is a 43% elevation in monoamine oxidase A(MAO-A) levels, extending into areas of the brain that help regulate mood. The researchers created a special kit of dietary supplements to reduce these high levels. This kit contains certain amino acids and antioxidants from food that can balance out these changes. The important parts of this kit, like tryptophan, tyrosine, and blueberry were found not to change the overall amount of these substances in breast milk.

What Do These Amino Acids Do and Antioxidants Do?

Tyrosine helps produce melanin, the pigment responsible for hair and skin color. It helps in the function of organs responsible for making and regulating hormones, including the adrenal, thyroid, and pituitary glands. It is involved in the structure of almost every protein in the body.

The body uses tryptophan to help make melatonin and serotonin. Melatonin helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle, and serotonin is thought to help regulate appetite, sleep, mood, and pain. The liver can also use tryptophan to produce niacin (vitamin B3), which is needed for energy metabolism and DNA production.

Blueberry juice and blueberry extract contains the dietary anti-oxidants anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are a group of antioxidants found in red, blue, and purple fruits and veggies. A diet rich in these compounds may prevent inflammation and protect against type 2 diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Regularly eating anthocyanin-rich foods may also benefit your memory and overall brain health.

This study shows that a food supplement may help reduce sadness during the toughest days of postpartum blues - day 5. The main discovery was that when women tried a dietary supplement with specific ingredients - 2 grams of tryptophan, 10 grams of tyrosine, and blueberry juice or extract, it almost completely eliminated those feelings of sadness/overwhelm. It could be a promising new way to support new moms. However, just like the placenta pills we also need to consider if the improved mood was due to the treatment itself or the placebo effect. More research is necessary.

As always, talk to your provider before starting any supplements - even ‘natural’ supplements can interact with other medications. This is the first study of its kind for postpartum mood concerns so don’t add those supplements to your Amazon cart just yet.

https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1611965114

Note: It’s important to look at research funding and any conflict of interest is declared. One of the principal investigators is developing natural health products to overcome a high MAO-A state in early postpartum. J.H.M. has received operating grant funding for other studies from Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lundbeck, SK LifeScience, and Johnson & Johnson/Janssen in the past 5 years. J.H.M. has served as a consultant for all of these companies except Johnson & Johnson, as well as for Sepracor, Trius Therapeutics, and Mylan Inc.