Since revealing she’s expecting her first child with boyfriend Tristan Thomas, reality TV star Khloe Kardashian has kept her fans updated about the ins and outs of her pregnancy experience.
The 33-year-old even revealed on the latest episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians that she is planning to eat her placenta after giving birth in April.
She’s certainly not the first in the family to partake in this controversial post-birth habit, with big sister Kim turning her placenta into pills in 2015.
“I’m going to eat it in pills,” Khloe told Kim in a clip from the episode.
“My placenta was like double the size, it was really oddly big, so she gave me two jars,” recalled Kim.
Kim said she chose “grape flavour” in her “picked placenta”.
She’s previously raved about the process, saying: “I had great results and felt so energised and didn’t have any signs of depression…Every time I take a pill, I feel a surge of energy and feel really healthy and good.”
Proponents of the practice believe it can boost milk supply, reduce the risk of developing postpartum depression, and replenish vital nutrients but there’s no evidence from human studies to support these claims and experts aren’t quite as enthused about it.
“Looking at the research or lack thereof, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” women’s health expert Dr Jennifer Wider told us. Instead, she recommends that women stick with what has been proven to be effective for postpartum health, like eating a balanced diet, staying hydrated, asking for help when they need it, and consulting a medical health professional if they start to develop symptoms of postpartum depression.
This article originally appeared on Women’s Health Australia.
