For 'Mad Men' star January Jones, it's placenta over coffee

BY PAM LOBLEY

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

NOW THAT’S FUNNY

I guess the cast of “Mad Men” has a few mad women. January Jones, who plays Betty Draper on the popular AMC series, gave birth to her son, Xander, just seven weeks before she began shooting the latest season. She was a little worried about going back to work so soon, feeling that the exhaustion might become overwhelming, but she employed a secret trick to boost her energy. She ate her placenta.

Has she not heard of coffee?

The placenta is an organ that grows in the uterus when one is pregnant and nourishes the baby. It stands to reason, therefore, that the placenta would be loaded with vitamins and nutrients. It has become trendy among some to harness the powers of the placenta by eating it after the birth of your child. Not right after the birth. It’s not like you just whisk the placenta away to sit in a spicy citrus marinade before you throw it on the grill. I mean, that would be weird, right?

No, instead, the placenta is dehydrated and made into vitamins that you can take later. Why, that makes eating your placenta a snap!

Ms. Jones has been taking the placenta pills and insists that there is nothing “witchy-crafty” about it. She offers that humans are the only mammals that don’t ingest our placentas.

Even if that is true, it is a weak argument. We’re also the only mammals that build and fly aircraft, vaccinate our children, and create juicy, night-time soap operas for gorgeous actresses to star in.

Though eating your placenta has never been easier, some people may still be too squeamish to try it. No worries. If you can’t eat it, you can smear it on your face, thus giving your skin the benefits of all those nutrients. Many women have been trying, and swearing by, placenta facials.

The placenta is used in a cream that is massaged into the skin as part of a treatment. This doesn’t seem that gross, but I can’t see spending the $500 on it, which is what they can cost.

My child-bearing days are behind me, so I guess I’ve missed the chance to eat my own placenta. I’ll get over it. With a meal like that, what do you have for dessert?

Pam Lobley writes the “Now That’s Funny” column. Follow her on Twitter @plobley.