Gwyneth Paltrow Claims Inserting Jade Egg Into Your Vagina is an ‘Ancient Chinese Practice’

The items, a Rose Quartz Egg ($55) and Jade Egg ($66), can apparently help women balance their hormones, regulate their menstrual cycles, prevent uterine prolapse, and increase bladder control, according to a lawsuit that Goop had to settle last September, according to USA Today.

These effects can be achieved by inserting one of the eggs inside the vagina and leaving it there for the rest of the day. It was also said in the report that women can let this rest inside them as they sleep at night.

Paltrow’s company was asked to pay a fine of $145,000 in September to settle unsubstantiated vaginal egg health claims, USA Today reported. The California Food, Drug and Medical Device Task Force had barred Goop from “making any future unsubstantiated product claims and from manufacturing or selling any misbranded, unapproved or falsely-advertised medical devices.”

The eggs were promoted by Paltrow’s company as an “ancient remedy” for women who are having sexual problems. It claimed that members of the Chinese royal family and the emperor’s concubines have used this “ancient practice” for more than 2,000 years, Gizmodo reported.

However, a recent study found that this was nothing more than a marketing pitch for the sales. Lead author and gynecologist, Jen Gunter, along with her co-author, an archaeologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama, Sarah Parcak, debunked the claims. The team looked through several databases in search for this “ancient practice,” and came up short with the result.

“No evidence was found to support the claim that vaginal jade eggs were used for any indication in ancient Chinese culture,” the study, which was published on October 25, concluded.

Not only that, but this pseudoscience can also pose serious health problems to women. Gunter, in her blog post last year calling out Paltrow’s Jade Egg product, explained that this is a terrible idea.

“I would like to point out that jade is porous which could allow bacteria to get inside and so the egg could act like a fomite,” the doctor wrote, “This is not good, in case you were wondering. It could be a risk factor for bacterial vaginosis or even the potentially deadly toxic shock syndrome.”