In news set to rock the parenting boats of doting celeb mums like Kim Kardashian-West, January Jones and more, scientists have said they cannot find a clear link between a woman consuming her placenta after giving birth and boosted iron levels.
One of the reasons this is so important is that after a woman gives birth, her iron levels can be heavily depleted (it’s not uncommon for doctors to advise new mums to take iron supplements to replenish their body’s iron stores), and many women who eat their own placenta believe that the high-iron content of this reproductive organ will restore their iron levels to what it was pre-birth.
Analysing the health benefits of placentophagy, the act where post-partum mothers eat their own encapsulated placenta, researchers from Las Vegas’ University of Nevada discovered that if a new mum is iron deficient and solely relying on placentophagy, their iron levels won’t bounce back to where they need to be.
This may come as a shock to celebs like Kim Kardashian-West; the mum-of-two is one of a slew of Hollywood stars who have been very candid in talking about their adoration for the placenta-filled pills.
WATCH Kim opens up about hooking up with Kanye West post-Kris Humphries! The post continues…
“Every time I take a pill, I feel a surge of energy and feel really healthy and good. I totally recommend it for anyone considering it,” the 34-year-old confessed on her blog in December last year.
Kim says of taking the pills: “I thought, ‘Why not try it? What do I have to lose?'”
Kim had her placenta “freeze-dried” before it was pressed into pills.
Not only that, while she was pregnant with her now-three-year-old daughter Rainbow, Holly Madison said she planned to eat her own placenta because she “heard it helps women recover faster”.
Holly, now a mum of two, was up for eating her own placenta to overcome the effects of childbirth faster.
The reality star came to fame after she was dubbed Hugh Hefner’s number-one girlfriend in the Playboy Mansion.
Mad Men’s January Jones is equally impressed with placentophagy; the 38-year-old swears that placenta pills gave her more energy after the birth of her son, Xander Dane, in 2011.
“I have a great doula who makes sure I’m eating well, with vitamins and teas, and with placenta capsulation,” she told People.
Mum-of-one January says of placenta pills that she would “highly suggest it to any pregnant woman”.
Similar to Kim Kardashian-West, January says she also took placenta pills in a bid to stave off post-natal depression.
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WATCH as Holly reveals that she is pregnant with her second baby!
