Alicia Silverstone Feeding Baby: 'Clueless' Actress Defends Premastication In Interview With Entertainment Tonight [VIDEO]

Silverstone, who last month posted footage of herself pre-chewing food for her son, and then feeding him mouth-to-mouth, sat down with ET on April 27, and addressed the criticism she earned for the now viral video.

I can understand that it would make some people feel uncomfortable, possibly, because it's new to them . . . but I do want to let you know that this has been going on for thousands of years, still going on all over the place and it's natural, Silverstone told ET.

While the Clueless actress justifies the public shockwave by the fact that she did not make up this feeding method, what she is actually referring to is premastication or pre-chewing.

The term is defined as the act of chewing food for the purpose of physically breaking it down in order to feed another that is incapable of chewing the food themselves.

Premastication is often done by a mother, in this case Alicia Silverstone, via utensils, hands or mouth-to-mouth.

Silverstone references the fact that this act has been going on for thousands of years, and is actually right.

In many human cultures, the act of premastication and direct mouth-to-mouth feeding, sometimes referred to as kiss-feeding, was once believed to have been a critical complement to breast-feeding.

But as many people have become turned off by the act, mainly because of the discovery that diseases such as HIV can be transmitted through saliva in the pre-chewed foods, the benefits of premastication reportedly outweigh the risks.

As it has been studied for many years, researchers have found that premastication provides infants with the same diet that breast milk would, but also allows for more macro- and micro-nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

In the end, researchers report that the benefits and pitfalls of this practice greatly depend on the dietary and medial circumstances of the mother and child.

Silverstone came under much scrutiny in late march when she posted a video showing her feeding her 10-month-old son.

Since then, the video has become a YouTube hit with just under 2 million views.

Silverstone originally posted the video, accompanied by a blogpost, on her website.

He literally crawls across the room to attack my mouth if I'm eating, adding, This video was taken about a month or 2 ago when he was a bit wobbly. Now he is grabbing my mouth to get the food!

Bear Eating My Mouth, as posted by Alicia Silverstone