Does Kim Kardashian Want to Eat Her Placenta for the Right Reasons?
By Kylie McConville for TheBump.com
Another day, another amazing Kim Kardashian pregnancy tale. Today, the mama-to-be is contemplating eating her placenta - and you're never going to guess why.
On the next episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kim is giving some serious thought to her life - and her age - after she gives birth to her baby girl in July. In the episode, which airs Sunday night at 9 EST (run! Program your DVRs right. this. instant!), Kim reveals that she's interested in eating her own placenta after her little lady's arrival to maintain her good looks.
She even asks her doc, "Don't you think it makes you look younger?" To which her doctor adds: "Some people believe in that. There are cookbooks on placentas." Even Kim's momager, Kris Jenner, is a little taken back by Kim's reveal. She said, "Yuck! I don't think we're going to be eating the fountain of youth, if you know what I mean." (Spoiler alert! Kris Jenner did not eat her placentas, apparently.)
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As her due date nears, Kim Kardashian is seriously thinking about life after giving birth. On Sunday's season premiere of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," the reality star revealed she might be interested in ingesting her own placenta after her baby girl is born, in order to maintain her good looks. But the Kikster, insistent on at least considering eating her placenta, says "I really want to do it."
The choice of whether or not to ingest your placenta after birth is entirely a mother's decision - so I can't knock Kim for considering it. It's her baby and her body. Let the woman eat whatever she wants, amirite or amirite? Hem and haw all we want, but it's ultimately a choice that Kim (and maybe Kanye - and oh, definitely, Kris) will make together.
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Kim isn't the first woman to want to eat her placenta. Famous Hollywood mamas like January Jones and Holly Madison have both had their placentas dehydrated and turned into pills that they've taken post birth. According to New York magazine, "placentophagia" - the process of placenta consumption - exists in traditional Chinese medicine. Small doses of dried placenta are mixed with herbs to help with impotence and lactation problems. (Read: not to make you look younger, sorry Kik!) The New York magazine article reports that the first recorded instance of placentophagia in the United States was in the '70s, when people living in communes sometimes shared placenta stew. According to the reports, there are many different ways of consuming the placenta these days: You can encapsulate it in pill form or add it to everyday foods like smoothies (we've even heard of a placenta sandwich). As for the placenta preparers, there are apparently at least a few businesses across the country dedicated to this practice.
What I don't fully understand, though, is Kim's motivation to eat her placenta. Traditionally, most believe that eating your own placenta helps with postpartum depression, breastfeeding and post-birth recovery. So is Kim only considering eating hers because she thinks it really will make her look younger? Reduce her laugh lines? Rejuvenate her senses?
Do you think Kim wants to eat her placenta for the correct reasons?
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