The Complete Guide To Colostrum

Colostrum is an amazing nutrient dense food! It’s health promoting properties help to have a positive immune system impact, maintain microbial balance, as well as helping to stimulate your body’s normal gut repair mechanisms.

Before we dig deeper into the numerous health benefits of colostrum, we need to take a closer look at what colostrum really is.

What Is Colostrum?

Colostrum is a type of nutrient dense milk that is produced by mammals during the last stages of pregnancy. This pre-milk fluid has a yellow, milky appearance, a result of all of the nutrients packed into it. Mothers will naturally produce colostrum the first 2-4 days after giving birth to their offspring. After that time period, normal mother’s milk comes in and become the main supply.

All mammalian mothers produce colostrum (including human momma's!).Cows produce colostrum as well, it's called bovine colostrum, this is the main form used in colostrum supplements.

Traditionally, colostrum is considered the “first food” of newborns.It contains vital immune and growth factors that help to ensure the health and vitality of the newborn. 

It is through colostrum that the baby receives the immunity-forming nutrients that it needs to start developing its own immune system (this system of the mother passing on immune is called passive immunity transfer).

The benefit  of colostrum is that it is packed with vital nutrients, all of which are necessary for the health of the baby. Newborns are not born with a developed immune system to help them fight off bacteria and pathogens. All of the defensive antibodies they need to defend themselves need to come from their food supply, that is, the milk produced by their mother.

Is Colostrum and Breast Milk The Same?

One thing to note, colostrum and regular breast milk are not the same thing. Colostrum is different in that it is higher in protein – which leads to faster muscle growth in the baby – as well as being lower in fat than regular milk.

Colostrum also has many different immune factors that help to bolster the immune system, regualr mother's milk doesn't have this.

The Benefits of Colostrum Supplements

Colostrum is a nutrient dense food. In fact, some have even categorized it as being a “superfood”. While there is no official definition of what qualifies as being a superfood, if there was one, colostrum would almost certainly qualify!

Below we'll go over the benefits of taking a colostrum supplement. 

1. Immune Support

The top benefit of taking a colostrum supplement is increased immune system support. This is due to the concentrated amount of Immunoglobulin G (or "IgG" for short) found in colostrum. IgG is known as an “antibody”, which are specializedproteins used by the immune system to neutralize toxins and pathogens (1).

IgG plays a major role in immune system function, as it defends the body against foreign substances and invading bacteria. In fact, your body's serum antibodies are made up of over 70% of Immunoglobulin G.

WhileIgG is the most predominant immunoglobulin found in the body - and the most studied - adding more to your diet through special foods like colostrum can go a long way towards helping to support your body’s natural immune system.

2. Supports Gut Health

Colostrum is a beneficial ingredient for overall gut health and repair. It is beneficial for hut health in that it stimulates the body’s normal gut repair mechanisms. Colostrum is able to do this due to the abundance of growth factors it contains.

As a note, growth factors aresubstances, such as a vitamin or proteins, that are required for the stimulation of growth in living cells. 

Colostrum includes several growth factors such as insulin-like growth factor -1 and 2 (IGF-1 and IGF-2) and transforming growth factor-beta 2 (TGF-β2) function to stimulate the growth of the gut. Animal studies have shown that colostrum has also been shown to affect rates of protein synthesis, protein degradation and DNA synthesis (2).

In addition, TGF -β2 may be beneficial in reducing gut permeability and enhancing cell rejuvenation.

3. Impacts Glutathione/Antioxidant Levels

Glutathione is a powerful antioxidant, in fact, some even call it the “Ultimate Antioxidant”. Glutathione and its precursors are known for benefiting overall health and wellness by neutralizing harmful free radicals.

It is has been well researched that glutathione and its precursors are abundtely present in colostrum (3). 

Glutathione is a naturally occurring small protein (also called a peptide) that has a primary role as an antioxidant. Antioxidants are naturally occurring compounds that have the ability to neutralize unstable "free radicals". Unchecked, these free radicals have been linked to a host of health problems.

A growing number of scientific and medical research studies have successfully shown that that antioxidants can help to deactivate free radicals, especially primary antioxidants like glutathione (4).

This makes glutathione, and other anti-oxidants, an important part of overall health and a key component in healthy aging.

Types of Colostrum Supplements

There are a few different types of colostrum supplements, but the most common kind is bovine colostrum. Bovine colostrum supplements allow for you to get beneficial amounts of colostrum in an easy to take drink or capsule.

We recommend getting at least 5 grams of colostrum on a daily basis. This will help to boost your immune system, support your gut health, and give you a healthy energy boost!