Cruise's placenta plans

Apr 18, 2006, 14:28 GMT

Dad-to-be Tom Cruise has vowed to eat the placenta of his newborn baby and plans to dine on the umbilical cord too.

The actor's bizarre plans are sure to shock his legions of fans but the Hollywood heavyweight insists he plans to cook the unusual meal after fiancée Katie Holmes gives birth.

The 43 year-old star told America's GQ magazine: 'I'm going to eat the placenta. I thought that would be good. Very nutritious. I'm going to eat the cord and the placenta right there.'

Cruise, a devoted Scientologist, made the decision after reading the afterbirth contains important nutrients and vitamins.

The 'Mission Impossible 3' star - who has been carrying out medical scans on the foetus with his own ultra-sound machine - has also told Holmes she must give birth in silence, in accordance with Scientology teachings, so the baby isn't traumatised during the birth.

The couple have been holding family pregnancy classes in their Beverley Hills home.

Cruise revealed: 'We've been studying what a woman goes through, what happens to a woman's body.'

The actor is not the only star to indulge in strange behaviour with his baby's placenta practice.

Rod Stewart and fiancée Penny Lancaster celebrated the birth of their son Alastair by covering his placenta in tea tree oil and burying it in their garden.

Copyright 2006 BANG Media International