The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star has revealed that she will be eating her placenta in pill form following the birth of her child
FORGET celebrity diets or fitness plans - placenta pills are the latest trend to sweep the world of showbusiness, and their popularity continues to grow.
Khloe Kardashian recently revealed that she was going to turn her placenta into pills - but what are they and why do so many celebrities choose to take them?
A growing trend is seeing some women send their placentas off to be made into capsules, while others drink the organ within hours of giving birth.
The placenta is an organ attached to a woman's womb lining during pregnancy.
The umbilical cord attaches the baby, who is growing inside a bag of fluid called the amniotic sac, to his or her mum.
Nutrients and oxygen are passed from the mum to her baby via the blood supply and into the placenta - which also produces hormones to help the baby develop, and protect the foetus from bacterial infections.
After the woman gives birth, the placenta becomes a messy waste product - passed out of her body, and often discarded.
In the encapsulation process, a placenta picker will come and collect a woman's afterbirth from the hospital - before chopping, drying and grinding it into pills which can be stored in a cupboard alongside your paracetamol.
Apparently, the pill option has very little taste - but the smoothies have a metallic aftertaste and, if cooked, the placenta's flavour is said to be similar to beef.
With the exception of sea creatures are some domestic pets, all mammals eat the afterbirth - leaving humans in the minority.
Several companies are profiting from the trend, with the London Placenta Centre charging up to £225 for capsules to be made.
Some people believe that the nutrients passed from mother to foetus during her nine months of pregnancy are still packed inside the organ - and shouldn't be binned.
Eating the raw placenta could help the mum recover from giving birth and boost her strength while breastfeeding, according to the theory.
Some are convinced the pills prevent post-natal depression, encourage breast milk production, and provide a much-needed energy boosts for new mums.
The process is rife with controversy, because there is currently no firm evidence that eating the pills has any benefit.
Roger Marwood, of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “There are no proven physical benefits in consuming a placenta, whether it is raw, in a smoothie or in capsule form.
“It may be full of protein, but it is unlikely to ward off postnatal depression, help you sleep, increase breast milk production or give you more energy.”
But many mums disagree, and swear by the placenta pills.
Khloe Kardashian announced on their reality show that she would consumer her placenta in pills following the birth of her child in Cleveland.
Back in 1998, TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall caused huge controversy when he fried up a new mum's placenta and served it as pate to 20 of her friends and family members, on a Channel 4 show, but since then, it has become less of a taboo.
Beauty-obsessed star Amy Childs, who runs her own salon in Essex, ate her placenta after having it turned into capsules.
Daniella Lloyd shocked viewers on Loose Women when she announced she was planning on eating her placenta after giving birth.
Kim Kardashian famously sampled the pills after the birth of Kanye's kids Saint and North West, in a bid to ward of postnatal depression.
Her sister Kourtney also took the tablets after the birth of her third child Reign Aston Disick - telling her millions of Instagram followers she would be sad when her 'yummy' and 'life changing' pills ran out.
WAG Coleen Rooney swore her pills left her bursting with energy after giving birth to third son Kit.
She added: "I slept really well and they helped to stabilise my weight after having Kit."
Atomic Kitten singer Natasha Hamilton also chowed down on her placenta - as did Mad Men star January Jones.
In January 2017, Jamie Vardy's wife Rebekah had her placenta frozen and turned into pills - after the birth of their second child.
Rebekah, 34, believes the tablets would help her recover from giving birth to the footie ace's baby.
