He ate wife’s placenta as health trend

Okay, we admit this will be one of more unappetizing stories you'll read today: A writer has chronicled the experience of eating his wife's placenta shortly after she gave birth to the couple's son in a hope of testing claims it is a healthy thing to do.

Not only did he cook the afterbirth several ways, but he also made – and we are not making this up – a smoothy as part of his curiosity about the trend of placentophagy.

But did he like it? You'll have to hear his tale.

Nicholas Baines wrote today in The Guardian he got the idea after hearing claims that back-to-nature groups ate placenta's in the 60's and 70s. However, the trend has re-emerged within the past two years, he said.

He made the request amid smiles of the midwives that turned into facial expressions of bewilderment. The surgeon merely asked: "How are you going to cook it?" he asks. "With spices?", Baines wrote.

He says celebrities endorsing the act include January Jones from Mad Men, But she took hers in pill form to ward off the baby blues.  The belief is that the placenta is chock full of good stuff, such as helpful stem cells, and can help keep postnatal depression away.

Here's a sample of the cooking process:

"The blender looked rank. After 10 minutes of watching a hefty chunk of placenta whirl round the Magimix, it finally broke down into the banana and coconut water. Up front was the distinct flavour of banana, superseded by a metallic, bloody backnote. It had a mineral earthiness to it and tasted exactly like the delivery room had smelled."

He ended up cooking it several ways including raw in a smoothie, cooked in a taco shell and fried with a little garlic and paprika.

But did he like it?

"The meat was rich, with a beef-like quality. It was tender, kind of like roast brisket and not dissimilar to Texas BBQ," Baines wrote.

Read his full experience here, if you dare.