Amber Tamblyn Drank BFF Blake Lively’s Breast Milk – Would You Drink Breast Milk?

They say milk does the body good—but does the same rule apply to breast milk?

Amber Tambly and Blake Lively photo credit: shutterstock

You can bet Hollywood actress and producer Amber Tamblyn is hoping breast milk does a body good, since she recently admitted to once drinking fellow celebrity (and BFF) Blake Lively’s breast milk. But those two aren’t the only ones swapping mama juice. Minutes before Tamblyn admitted to drinking Lively’s, Bravo host Andy Cohen took a couple swigs of Tamblyn’s breast milk. He described it as “very sweet” and even asked for more.

It’s no surprise that health-obsessed celebs are chugging down human breast milk like it’s filtered water on a hot California day. Breast milk has long been touted for its health benefits for infants. Not only is it chock-full of vitamins, proteins and fats (the perfect trifecta!), but studies have found that a compound found in breast milk may kill tumorous cancer cells.

Grown men are drinking it to help bulk up, claiming if it’s so beneficial to a baby’s growth and development, it should do the same for them, too. Some bodybuilders have even described it as the “greatest supplement ever.”

In fact, certain adults are so fanatical about getting their hands on the human milk, that an ice cream shop in Westminster City in London, England created Baby Gaga, an ice cream flavour made from Madagascar vanilla, lemon zest and — you got it — human breast milk.

So what gives? Is it really worth all the hype or is this another fad that will quickly go out of fashion?

According to Dr. Claire McCarthy, a pediatrician and medical communications editor at Boston Children’s Hospital, breast milk does contain immunoglobulins that help fight infection, but they’re immunoglobulins that most adults already have. A more recent study in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine backs up Dr. McCarthy’s claims. Researchers found that consuming breast milk wouldn’t “improve health or sports performance” and that anyone who says different is experiencing the placebo effect.

Bottom line: Breast milk may help infants grow, but adults are already grown. So if you’re a milk-lover, probably best to stick with cow’s milk, rice milk or nut milk, and leave the breast milk for the babies.