Gaby Hoffmann drank placenta smoothies for weeks: cool or gross?

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Gaby Hoffmann is sort of a child star turned indie-spirit actress. You can see her IMDB here – I guarantee you’ve seen her in at least one movie (Uncle Buck!!) or TV show (The Good Wife!). She has a recurring role on Girls, and she attended the Season 4 premiere two nights ago – those are the photos I’m including in this post. Gaby also gave birth very recently. Her baby is only six weeks old, actually. And on the red carpet two nights ago, she was asked how she got so slim so fast. Her answer? Eating her placenta. How January Jones of her.

She gave birth six short weeks ago, but Gaby Hoffmann was ready for a Girls night. The actress showed off her slender post-baby body at the HBO show’s season four premiere in N.Y.C. on Monday — and shared her secret to bouncing back.

“Placenta, placenta, placenta. Just eat that s— up, and it does a girl good!” Hoffmann, who guest-stars as Adam’s out-there sister in the hit series, told PEOPLE, noting it boosted her energy and milk supply.

The actress, 32, and longtime boyfriend, cinematographer Chris Dapkins, welcomed daughter Rosemary on Nov. 19 at home and says getting those nutrients from the birth organ was easy. “You don’t taste [it],” she explains.

“I made smoothies out of it for three weeks. I had a home birth, so my midwife and my doula took it and cut it up into 20 pieces and froze it, and every day, I put it in a blender with strawberries and blueberries and guava juice and a banana, and I drank that s— up.”

With her healthy snack all gone, the actress was saying “bottoms up” with another beverage during her evening out.

“I’ve been home with my baby. It’s my first night out. Coming out to a party at the Museum of Natural History where you get to watch Girls and have a drink with your friends?” the Transparent star says. “What better night out [is there]?”

[From People]

I don’t judge women for what they choose to do with their placentas. I actually thought Camila Alves and Matthew McConaughey’s placenta-tree thing was sort of cool. I wasn’t really bothered by the fact that January Jones freeze-dried her placenta and had it made into vitamin pills. So the idea of putting pieces of your placenta in your smoothies and drinking it over the course of several weeks? I mean, God bless. That’s your call. My only thought is that if you want to eat your placenta, maybe there are easier ways to do it rather than throwing it in a smoothie? I would take placenta pills over placenta smoothies, any day of the week.

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Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

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72 Responses to “Gaby Hoffmann drank placenta smoothies for weeks: cool or gross?”

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  1. Brittney B says:

    I love love love her on Transparent! It’s awesome that she seems so similar in real life. I had no idea she just gave birth, but I hope she has enough time to enjoy these early months. Her schedule is packed these days!

    • Rhiley says:

      I watched the first episode of Transparent and really liked it. I thought I would be able to purchase individual episodes through my Roku but no. You really only can get it Amazon Prime. I don’t want Prime at this time so have not been able to watch Transparent. But the pilot episode is great.

  2. kri says:

    I just found my new diet. If I want to overeat, I will think of this article. Nonononnonoooo.

  3. mimif says:

    I don’t care how nutritious it is, I am never eating anything that comes out of my uterus. Unlike a lot of you people here (cough, Kiddo, cough).

  4. Joy says:

    32? Ok then.

    • Loopy says:

      No she really must be, her and Thora Birch starred in one of my absolute favourite childhood films ‘Now and Then’ must be around the same age. Maybe its just fatigue from the new born.

    • Goats on the Roof says:

      She was cute as a kid, but she definitely isn’t aging well at all. She looks mighty rough.

      • Joy says:

        Clearly placenta has no anti aging properties.

      • slimkeith says:

        I think part of it is-she just doesn’t look like your typical Hollywood actress. She looks like a normal, average person. She has quite an interesting background. Her mother, Viva, was one of Andy Warhol’s Superstars. She grew up in the Chelsea Hotel in NYC. I bet she has a lot of amazing stories, growing up in a place like that.

      • moomoo says:

        I think it’s more her bushy hair that gives the illusion of aging badly. If I just look at her face it looks perfectly normal for a 32 year old.

    • Rhiley says:

      I totally believe she is 32. She was also the cute little girl in Sleepless in Seattle. She seems a bit flakey but really well rounded and down to earth- a rarity for child actresses.

    • Beth says:

      I grew up watching her so I can believe it, but I don’t think that haircut does her any favors.

  5. RobN says:

    Chick looks mad as a hatter.

  6. mia girl says:

    I came in to ask
    “Who is Gabby Hoffmann?”
    I leave saying
    “Oh that’s who she is. Wish I hadn’t asked”

    G rating
    I nfuriating
    R epulsive
    L ame female characters
    S elf-indulgent bore

    • Tiffany :) says:

      Her career is waaaaay bigger than just Girls. She’s been working since she was a child, and she is pretty great at it.

  7. clara says:

    Stupid hipster modern-day affectation. Completely useless nonsense.

  8. Tateru says:

    “Placenta, placenta, placenta. Just eat that s— up, and it does a girl good!”

    yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatevs Gaby. But can your placenta host the Oscars while carrying Franco?
    Get back to me when it brings that to the table.
    #marshamarshamarsha

  9. Renee28 says:

    That’s a hard looking 32.

  10. LEIGH says:

    She was in one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, but DEAR GOD she has aged poorly. Like shockingly, poorly. Shoes are cute though.

    I have zero desire to ever be preggers so that eating placenta stuff is beyond gross to me.

  11. GoodNamesAllTaken says:

    Whhhaaaaatttttttttt? This is news to me. Bad. News. Gross, vomit inducing news. I have no words. Except, thank you, God, for not making me eat a placenta.

    • Tateru says:

      GNAT you need to open your horizons. Accept the unknown. Waller round in it like a newborn otter. Try it. Broaden the scope of your existence.

      Then tell me what it’s like cuz ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww grooosssss!

      *windchimes*

      • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

        Yeah, there’s not enough Xanax on the planet ….
        Ewwwwwwwwwwwww

        *kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya…
        Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya….

        Nope, still vom.

  12. PJ says:

    Freeze dried and in pill form? Not my cup of tea but, OK. FROZEN RAW STRAIGHT FROM YOUR F**KING BODY (veins and all!!) and “blended up into daily smoothies?! What in the hell type of unnecessarily bacteria addled nonsense is that?? It’s just just another example of bored, affected, rich hipsters trying to prove how “original” and “authentic” (or whatever).

    I understand that many believe in the benefits of consuming their own placentas but it’s just so over the top to do it in that form. I mean, I’ve also heard of some frying it up like liver (God help me) with vegetables and stuff but even that isn’t consuming the blood and cells RAW. Eek.

    Also, I hate how women claim it “improved milk production” when they have no prior personal experience to compare it to. Rosemary is Gabby’s first child; she has nothing to base this on because she’s never actively lactated without consuming her raw blood smoothies 😖

    *Leaves room*

    • Mikeyangel says:

      Yes to everything you said. I am 7 months pregnant and no way in hell am I eating my f*#%ing placenta. That is so vomit inducing.

    • qwerty says:

      Yes, the bacteria.
      Did they cut it up with her bread knife? On a cutting board that they use to make sandwiches on? Did she use the same sponge she uses to wash the dishes after drinking it? Can you imagine tongue kissing someone who just drank a placenta smoothie?

      I have SO many questions… but really, I don’t wanna know the answers.

    • Anony says:

      I actually thought this wasn’t that gross…until I read this “veins and all” You have shown me the light. I’ve never seen one and this really changed my mental image.

      Veins…eating…veins….SUPER BARF

  13. mkyarwood says:

    Not for everyone. Congratulations on her fast recovery and commitment to keeping her own face/after pregnancy boobs. I like her outfit.

  14. Aminta says:

    I promise i am open minded about most things but I judge the HELL out of anyone who does this. Unless doing this was a way to cure cancer or provide a similarly extraordinary benefit, there is no excuse to do this imho. And if you do, PLEASE stfu about it. We’ve come too far in evolution for this to be excusable.

    • Sparkly says:

      Look into the extraordinary benefits. Your tone about this and dismissal of choices/education is what’s really inexcusable.

      • siri says:

        Sorry, but I don’t think there’s any real scientific proof of “extraordinary benefits”.
        http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-27307476
        And it doesn’t seem to be a fit for every woman:
        http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/articles/2014/05/09/moms-should-you-eat-your-placenta
        I don’t see a problem if a woman wants to do/try that, though. Just please don’t generalize on this matter.

      • Sparkly says:

        In no way did I generalize. I said that putting down women for chosing to do so, without looking into it, is unfair. I took issue with her tone, “stfu about it. We’ve come too far in evolution for this to be excusable.” I found incredible benefits and will tell others who might be helped by it, but of course it’s not for everyone.

      • qwerty says:

        WHAT benefits? Somone just wrote here it’s her first baby. She has nothing to compare it to to say it’s helped her with anything. If I eat a cheese sandwich today and get a new job tomorrow, does it mean it was caused by the sandwich?

      • happymama says:

        Thank you for pointing that out, Sparkly. Mothers have been doing it since the beginning of time. It’s safe and the health benefits are great if people (like myself) could get over the squeem factor. Eating the placenta helps women balance hormones and has amazing nutritional value that a post birth mom could really use amongst a lot of other positive aspects. I’ve also heard stories where placing a bit of the placenta under a mother’s tongue can stop hemorrhaging after labor. Fascinating! Since it doesn’t make pharmaceutical companies or institutions money people like to dismiss the health values of the placenta. If you don’t want to do it yourself that’s your choice, don’t judge others about theirs because you don’t understand.

  15. B says:

    I’m going with gross!! I’ve given birth twice & was just fine without eating anything that came out of me.

  16. Little Darling says:

    I’m a doula and I also work for a mothering center in So Cal and one of the things we offer our mamas postpartum is placenta encapsulation and smoothies. It’s not as trendy as one thinks, women have been doing it for years and years. While the thought of having a smoothie isn’t something I personally would do, the benefits of ingesting your placenta are tenfold, and I recommend it to all of my clients. They usually come with a tincture as well. So while
    It’s “out there” it’s really only out there to western culture.

    • velvet says:

      I made my placenta into borst after my child’s birth, 32 years ago. I take great glee in telling people i am a cannibal.

    • phlyfiremama says:

      Exactly. As a TCM practitioner, I can verify that eating placenta has been around for THOUSANDS of years as a component of our herbal pharmacopia~I wrote a longer post at the bottom of this thread!

      • homegrrrl says:

        Haha. I ate my placenta but chalked it up to crazy. I went primal after 32 hr back labor. I didn’t have the c section but they rolled me into our small hospital as precaution. I recall growing fangs and claws. After that mayhem I had that insane craving. Sorry everybody! !!

  17. Sparkly says:

    I couldn’t smoothie it by any means, but I had mine encapsulated. I’m now a convert! I’ve had issues with depression all my life, and I always had PPD after birth. Trying this with my last one, I had NO depression at all, less cramping & bleeding, better skin, and abundant milk flow. I initially figured it couldn’t hurt, but now I’m with her. Eat that sh*t up! lol

  18. Carrie says:

    I’m not so sure about eating it, but I am planning on encapsulating mine if I can afford it.

    • happymama says:

      It costs around $300 to have them encapsulated around here. If that’s too much for you ask a midwife or doula to help you out. Most are willing to help make it happen for you because they are huge supporters of affordable natural healthcare for women. Hope you are having a good pregnancy!

  19. Jess says:

    I see this type of thing as no different than eating animals. It really seems to help some women, so I’m all for it, to each their own.

    I wanted to keep mine and plant a tree or bush over it, but the hospital “forgot” and threw it away. I had to sneak my sister’s out of the hospital so the same thing didn’t happen, lol.

  20. NewWester says:

    Gross

  21. Veruca Salt says:

    I love Gabby Hoffman. She is so offbeat and strange but so comfortable in her own skin, I think she’s kickass. 😊

    • Mel M says:

      Agreed!

    • Becky1 says:

      I think so, too. I laughed at her comments about eating and drinking that s**t up:) It’s refreshing to see someone who looks like a real person and doesn’t seem to have a PR person monitoring what she says.

  22. phlyfiremama says:

    I have a Masters Degree in Oriental Medicine & Chinese Herbology, and am a Nationally certified/Texas Licensed Acupuncturist living and practicing in Houston, TX. Those are my credentials for what I am about to say, so if ANYONE here has more information than me on this particular subject please feel free to comment. Otherwise, simply open your mind and learn! Placenta’s Chinese name is Zi He Chi. It is in what we call the “Tonify Yang” category of Chinese herbs. It is a warming in nature herb, that enters the Kidney, Liver, & Lung meridians. In TCM terms, it tonifys (builds up) Qi, Blood, and Essence, especially when they are exhausted~such as after childbirth, or long illness. It is used for mostly female related infertility issues (due to the hormonal content). It is used for wheezing due to Lung & Kidney deficiency. It boosts the immune system, and therefore has an anti-allergic reaction component as well. It can also (in the right combinations with other herbs) help treat impotence, tinnitus, lower back pain NOT injury related, and insufficient lactation. As with ALL herbs, there are different combinations of herbs used to get different effects and there is NEVER a “one size fits all” remedy, and RARELY is one herb by itself effective for ANY condition~which is why so many western medicine trials utterly fail when testing plant based medicines for efficacy.

    So, no, Gaby Hoffman is in NO WAY “gross” by ingesting her placenta. She is doing the best possible thing after childbirth to restore her body BACK to better health after the exhaustion and depletion of pregnancy and childbirth, and giving her little baby the vital components needed to thrive. It is tragic that something so important to health is being demonized or ostracized as something gross, when in fact it should be welcomed and celebrated. If you don’t want to do it for you, fine, but DON’T attack other women for it because YOU don’t understand it or don’t want to do it.

    • moomoo says:

      Thanks for sharing your knowledge here. Makes me want to explore this option (in pills — not ready for the smoothie option just yet, tho’ a good glass straw makes less appetizing smoothies go down, uh, smoothly).

    • max9 says:

      Nobody is attacking her, people are just stating their opinion on the subject, and some find it to be gross (me included).
      People have a right to say that they think something is gross if they find it to be gross.

    • Tessy says:

      I just took a doula course, and that was something we covered. I also want to mention that other mammals eat their placentas. Fresh and raw. I once watched a cow eat hers after giving birth and cattle of course are herbivores.

    • happymama says:

      Thank you for sharing some useful information about ingesting the placenta.

  23. looking at the thumbnail pics, she looks like a much older version of Anne H. I can’t believe that’s sam from now and then. She’s looking rough….

  24. Maria says:

    Wouldn’t that be considered a form of cannibalism?
    Seriously, gag!!

    • Anony says:

      Naw, I mean some people eat their nails and skin from their lips (ugh). But if they went around eating lip skin from other people than that’d be a lot more like cannibalism.

      LOL funny topic

  25. Page says:

    The only things that should be in your smoothies are fruits and veggies, this is just weird.