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Tamera Mowry-Housley drank twin sister Tia's breast milk for 'healing properties'

Tamera Mowry-Housley has been feeling under the weather, and turned to sister Tia Mowry-Hardrict for help.
Tia and Tamera Mowry
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 21: Tamera Mowry (L) and Tia Mowry sign and discuss their new book "Twintuition" at BarnesFilmMagic
/ Source: TODAY

Tamera Mowry-Housley has been feeling under the weather lately and in "desperate" need of a quick fix. So it's no surprise to learn that she turned to the one person who's always been there for her, sister Tia Mowry-Hardrict, for help.

What is a bit of a surprise, however, is how her twin helped her.

"Soooo, my sister is desperate for some healing," Tia, who gave birth to a baby girl last May, wrote in an Instagram post. "She’s sicky poo and I sent her an article on how breast milk has healing properties and (she) was okay with drinking my #breastmilk."

More than OK, actually. In the filter-enhanced video clip that accompanied that caption, Tamera could be seen cozied up to a big cup of what many moms call "liquid gold" — and absolutely raving about it.

"Oh, my gosh, Tia! This is amazing," Tamera said, clutching the mug close. "Your breast milk is the best milk I’ve ever tried in my life. Oh, my God."

But she may not have been as shocked by that as she seemed, since a postscript to Tia's caption noted, "She’s had some before and I mean, she’s my twin."

Those confessions led to some interesting comments from fans and followers — and at least one fellow star.

Actress-comedian Jackée Harry, who played Tia's adoptive mom on "Sister Sister," simply wrote, "Y'all just take EVERYTHING public, huh?"

Less famous names chimed in with a whole lot to say about it, too, but basically the comments could be summed up as variations of two themes: "ew!" and "what's the big deal?"

Not that Tamera was worried about criticism or encouragement. She just wanted to feel better.

"(Tia) found out I had strep, the flu and pneumonia, and stepped in," she wrote in response to one follower. "She sent me articles and everything on how her breast milk can help."

But can it?

In recent years, there's been a trend among some male fitness buffs and bodybuilders to drink breast milk as a nutrition-packed elixir.

In 2014, TODAY spoke to Glen Snow, founder of OnlyTheBreast.com, a site that connects people who want to donate, sell or receive breast milk, about it.

“We think breast milk is amazing and can be used for many health and wellness purposes regardless of the age or gender of the person seeking its benefits,” Snow said.

However, Dr. Claire McCarthy, a pediatrician at Boston Children's Hospital, noted that while breast milk contains immunoglobulins that help battle infection, they're immunoglobulins that adults already have and babies don't.

So any benefits for grownups are unproven at best, and the risks could outweigh any rewards.

“Milk is a bodily fluid and can carry infections that are present in the body, such as HIV, hepatitis and others,” McCarthy noted.

As for Tamera, she's convinced her sister's milk works for her. In a post of her own, she wrote, "Well, I do feel better."