Khloe Kardashian plans to eat her placenta—here’s what she (and you!) need to know

Kourtney did it, Kim did it, and now mom-to-be Khloe Kardashian has confirmed she, too, will be consuming her placenta after giving birth.

Ingesting the placenta has become pretty common in recent years (the trend has no doubt been influenced by Khloe’s sisters) but the practice, known as placentophagy, isn’t some new thing. Rooted in Chinese medicine, modern placentophagy is thought to help restore a new mama’s hormonal balance after pregnancy.

People consume placenta in several forms. Some choose to make a broth or “fry it like a steak and eat it,” as Kim Kardashian once noted on her blog. The most common way to consume placenta, though, is as a dehydrated powder in capsules. That’s the route Khloe is taking.”I’m gonna eat it in pills,” she explained on a recent episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

It makes sense that Khloe decided to consume her placenta in capsule form, as both Kourtney and Kim chose that method as well.

Yummy…PLACENTA pills! No joke…I will be sad when my placenta pills run out. They are life changing! #benefits #lookitup

A post shared by Kourtney Kardashian (@kourtneykardash) on Jan 10, 2015 at 4:35pm PST

Pill form is the method placentophagy advocates say is the safest (as long as the organ is steamed at high temperatures before dehydration to minimize bacterial presence) but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises against all kinds of placenta ingestion, citing a case that saw a baby hospitalized for group B Streptococcus sepsis (GBS) after the mother ingested contaminated placenta capsules.

A lot of women still choose to practice placentophagy though, and researchers say there does appear to be a link between the practice and the mood and energy boosts many women report.

More work needs to be done to determine whether placenta pills are working for women on a physiological basis or if they provide more of a placebo effect, but many moms swear by them.

Advocates suggest moms carefully consider an encapsulator’s food safety practices when choosing a person or company to make their pills. With two sisters who’ve already done it, Khloe no doubt knows who to call.

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