Are there bizarre health benefits to menstrual blood fertilizer?

Blood is already in use as a fertilizer. You may have seen bags of “blood meal” in your gardening shop, and the reason it’s so fabulous is because it’s chock-full of nitrogen, a micronutrient that plants absolutely thrive on. However, short of cutting a vein or stabbing your pets, you don’t really have a natural source of blood — oh wait. Yes, yes you do. If you are a menstruating female, every 28 days or so you have a period. Free blood.

Yes, women can and apparently do recycle their own uterine expulsions as plant food. Of course, if you’ve ever had a period in your life, you are already totally squicked out by this idea. Having a period sucks and the idea of doing anything besides flushing it down a toilet sounds completely nutty. And while we’ve all probably eaten something that was grown in soil treated with chicken manure, thinking about eating vagina blood food is just barf worthy.

However, go ahead and collect your period blood in a menstrual cup, dump it in a jar, and add it to the soil of the vegetables you hope to eat someday. According to Becca Grim, who did just that, the lettuce she grew from her own uterine goo was crisp and the soil was obviously healthy. She recommends creating a “blood tea” out of one part period blood and nine parts water.

However, I must ask, would it be any different from using any other fertilizer? Doubtful. The same micronutrients can be added to your soil using the fertilizers mentioned above — blood meal and composted vegetable matter or animal feces. Using period blood isn’t really any healthier for your plants — or you — than other organic fertilizers. So what’s the advantage?

Using something that you created yourself — and in your pants, to boot — that helps your food or plants grow better is actually kind of cool. To turn something that we all loathe into something usable and even edible is, can I say it? Magical.

Although I do have to wonder — is it tough to eat?