11 Times "Health Guru" Celebrities Were Hilariously Wrong About Science

Mayim Bialik, best known for her portrayal of Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler in The Big Bang Theory, also happens to be a neuroscientist, much to the surprise of many a red carpet interviewer.

This, however, doesn't mean that she can hold a couple of her own slightly odd ideas, like the belief that women should be eating their placenta after giving birth.

In an article for kveller.com, Bialik says that "Human beings are the only mammals that have chosen to not routinely ingest their placenta, which is consumed by every other mammal for its protein and iron-rich properties that are critical in helping the mother’s body recuperate after giving birth".

Do you know what? Many mammals also clean their anus with their tongue, that doesn't mean it's something you should be forgoing your morning shower in favour of.

The reason mammals in the wild eat their placenta is to prevent them being sniffed out by predators when they are weak and in charge of a newborn. One of the jobs of the placenta is to protect the developing foetus from infections in the mother's system, meaning that it may not even be sterile, let alone beneficial.

It could be straight up dangerous, particularly if eaten by someone other than the mother, something Tom Cruise - another proponent of all things whacky - once  threatened to do, which makes even less sense.