Ashley Graham says she's tried her own breastmilk and it 'tastes good'
- Ashley Graham said she's tasted her own breast milk "more than once" during an episode of the Ellen DeGeneres Show, and it actually "tastes good."
- Taste aside, some adults drink breastmilk under the misconception that it is healthy, but it can come with some risks.
- There are no proven health benefits to bringing human breastmilk, and buying it online can be especially dangerous oftentimes it contains harmful bacteria.
Supermodel Ashley Graham revealed she has drunk her own breastmilk "more than once" and, she said, it "tastes good."
Playing a game of "Never Have I Ever" on an episode of the Ellen DeGeneres show on Monday, Graham told guest hosts Stephen "tWitch" Boss and Allison Holker about the experience.
"You know, just to try a little bit. It tastes good," Graham said as she laughed.
She's hardly the only adult to do so.
In recent years, there has been a growing trend in the US of adults drinking human breastmilk under the misconception that it can be good for fitness.
However, it can come with some risks.
Drinking human breastmilk has no proven benefits for adults
The idea that drinking breastmilk can be helpful to athletes who want to build muscle has circulated from Mongolia to the US. But there is no evidence this is true.
Bruce German, a professor of food and chemistry at the University of California-Davis, said on Netflix's "(Un)well" that human breastmilk has a pretty poor nutritional makeup, high in saturated fat and low in protein.
Another reason some adults are trying breastmilk is in hopes to cure cancer, but this – like the athlete theory — also lacks evidence.
Insider's Anna Medaris Miller previously reported that, while some studies have suggested human breastmilk can combat cancer cells in a lab, these results have yet to be successful in human trials.
Breastmilk can carry bacteria and environmental contaminants
While there is no overt danger in trying a little breastmilk out of curiosity, drinking it consistently can expose you to some risks.
You should especially be wary of breastmilk purchased online, as scientists evaluated 100 samples of online breastmilk and found a majority of them were contaminated with harmful bacteria, poorly packaged, or diluted with cow's milk.
"That was really alarming," Sarah Keim, an epidemiologist at Nationwide Children's hospital in Columbus who conducted the research, said during the episode of (Un)Well.
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