Hilary Duff opens up about the placenta smoothie she had after giving birth to her daughter
Placenta consumption has long been touted for its supposed health benefits with widespread claims that it can help to prevent postpartum depression, aid milk production and reduce after-birth pain.
Now, Hilary Duff is the latest celebrity to praise the controversial practice after revealing that she drank a placenta smoothie after welcoming her second child, Banks Violet Bair, last month.
In an interview with US podcast Dr. Berlin’s Informed Pregnancy, the actress revealed: “I haven’t had a smoothie that delightful since I was like 10-years-old.”
A post shared by Hilary Duff (@hilaryduff) on Oct 29, 2018 at 6:38pm PDT
According to the mother-of-two, the divisive beverage was calorie-packed made with “juice and fruit and everything delicious.”
But if that wasn’t enough, the former ‘Lizzie McGuire’ star added that she has since made the leftover placenta into ice cubes that she can have as “treats”.
Yet despite her enthusiasm, Duff didn’t wish to have the pregnancy organ made into tablets.
“I heard something weird about pills,” she added. “I heard placenta burps are not ideal.”
The placenta is an organ attached to the lining of the womb during pregnancy which delivers oxygen and nutrients to the baby.
It can be consumed both raw or cooked though the most popular method involves drying the organ before crushing it into capsule form.
A post shared by Hilary Duff (@hilaryduff) on Nov 2, 2018 at 10:40pm PDT
Despite the A-list hype surrounding placenta consumption led by the likes of Kim Kardashian and Chrissy Teigen, there is little scientific evidence to back up the supposed health benefits.
In 2015, a review by researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago found there to be insufficient evidence to suggest that eating placenta provides health benefits for new mothers.
The team concluded in their study notes: “Despite the amount of information available to the public on the therapeutic benefits of placentophagy, there is no scientific evidence examining its effects in humans, and the data from animals are inconclusive.”
“The health benefits and risks of placentophagy warrant further investigation of the retained contents of the raw, cooked, and encapsulated placenta.”
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