Although there's not a lot of science to back up the supposed benefits of mothers eating their placentas post-birth, that hasn't stopped a myriad of celebrities from trying it anyway. For years, eating placenta has been touted as a way to combat postpartum depression, insomnia, and low energy — and even to boost breast milk production for new mothers. And whether those benefits are scientific fact or fiction, these celebrity moms decided there was no harm in trying.
One of the most popular ways new moms can eat their placenta is in pill form, where the tissue is dried, crushed into a powder, and placed in small capsules. Others choose to make it into ice cubes and eat it in smoothie form. Whatever their method, these 15 celeb moms seem to have no regrets when it comes to their postpartum placenta choices.
Hilary Duff
While many moms opt for placenta pills to eat theirs post-birth, Hilary went for a placenta smoothie instead after the arrival of her daughter Banks. "It was the most delightful smoothie I've ever had," she said. "I haven't had a smoothie that delightful since I was 10. It was calorie-filled with juice and fruit and everything delicious."
Padma Lakshmi
As the longtime host of Top Chef, Padma Lakshmi has eaten a lot of different foods, including her own placenta. "It's not as gross as it sounds," she told GrubStreet in an interview. "I just took two placenta pills in the morning with my coffee." She then joked, "No, I didn't sauté it with onions and have a glass of Chianti."
Kourtney Kardashian
Unsurprisingly, it was the health-conscious Kourtney who tried placenta first out of her famous siblings. But she only did so after giving birth to her third child, Reign. "Yummy … PLACENTA pills! No joke … I will be sad when my placenta pills run out. They are life-changing!" she wrote on Instagram in 2015.
Kim Kardashian
Kim didn't eat her placenta after giving birth to oldest child North, but she chose to after her second pregnancy. "I can't go wrong with taking a pill made of my own hormones — made by me, for me. I started researching and read about so many moms who felt this same way and said the overall healing process was much easier," she said about her decision.
Khloé Kardashian
Khloé Kardashian followed her older sisters' lead after giving birth to her daughter, True, but she admitted she was less stoked on the whole placenta-eating idea than some. "I really can't deal with that belly button, placenta thing," she admitted. Totally fair! She did say she planned to eat hers in pill form anyway.
Blac Chyna
After having her daughter, Dream, Blac Chyna admitted to doing some things differently than in her first pregnancy. She said: "I just recently I found out some new, cool stuff about not cutting the cord and sending your placenta. You can get these pills to take after to make you and the baby healthy."
Alicia Silverstone
The Clueless star called her placenta pills "happy pills," she loved them so much. "Someone gifted me my placenta in the form of a pill," she said on Live! With Kelly and Michael. "I thought that's harmless. I'll try it. And I have to tell you that I really loved it, and I was really sad when they were gone. It really helped me."
January Jones
The actress had to return to work on Mad Men soon after she had her son, and she credited her placenta pills with her quick postpartum recovery. "It's not witch-crafty or anything," she said at the time. "I suggest it to all moms. We're the only mammals who don't ingest our own placentas."
Mayim Bialik
Mayim Bialik wrote a whole blog post to defend fellow placenta eaters Alicia Silverstone and January Jones. "I ingested my placenta," she wrote. "I am not a bad person, a crazy person, or a freak, and neither is Alicia Silverstone or January Jones. There is no evolutionary benefit to us being created with a placenta that is not perfectly healthy and wonderful to ingest. It is. Yum!"
Tia & Tamera Mowry
Tamera Mowry was all about eating her placenta after giving birth to her son in 2012. But her twin sister, Tia Mowry, wasn't quite as big a fan. To try to convince her sis it was NBD, Tamera mixed some of her own placenta with brandy to feed to her sister. Tia gave it a tiny taste, and finally admitted, "It's kinda good."
Katherine Heigl
The former Grey's Anatomy star has two adopted children and one biological child. After giving birth to her son, she decided to go the placenta-eating route. "They told me that another mother down the hall had a company that freeze dries pills. This guy came, he was a total cowboy: cowboy hat, cowboy boots … and a bag of placenta! He took it to his wife who freeze-dried it and turned it into pills, and I've been taking them," she recalled of her post-birth experience.
Chrissy Teigen
After struggling with postpartum depression following her daughter Luna's birth, Chrissy Teigen gave eating her placenta a try after her son Miles' delivery. She joked that it was a super normal thing to do in Los Angeles. "They grill it here," she joked with CBS News' Rita Braver. "You can try some of mine after."
Kailyn Lowry
The Teen Mom 2 star has four kids, so it was really only a matter of time before she tried her own placenta. After her fourth child was born, she posted on Instagram that she was drinking a placenta smoothie. "Blended with fresh fruit & almond milk," she wrote. "Couldn't taste the placenta at all!"
Elle King
The singer recently gave birth to a little boy, and Elle King's own mom was on hand to help Elle with the placenta eating. She wrote on Instagram: "Appreciation post! My mother, the angel of all angels is the best doula ever! She is seen here cooking my placenta to encapsulate it for all the amazing benefits!"
Matthew McConaughey & Camila Alves
This celebrity couple did things a little differently. Not everyone wants to eat their placenta in pill or smoothie form — or any other form for that matter. It's every mother's choice what she wants to do. And for Camila Alves and Matthew McConaughey, that meant using the placenta as a fertilizer when planting a mango tree.
"That mango tree bore its first mango 9 years later, which we all as a family sat down and ate together and celebrated our eldest son like it was on his birthday. Going, 'You helped fertilize this mango, sir,'" Matthew recalled on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
