Herbs & Supplements:
Colostrum

Principal Proposed Uses
  • Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diarrhea
Other Proposed Uses
  • Ulcer Prevention, Sports Supplement, Lichen Planus , Sjogren’s Syndrome

Colostrum is the fluid that new mothers' breasts produce during the first day or two after birth. It gives newborn infants a rich mixture of antibodies and growth factors that help them get a good start.

Although colostrum has been available since the first mammals walked the earth, it is relatively new as a nutritional supplement. The resurgence of breast-feeding in the 1970s sparked a revival of interest in colostrum for both infants and adults.

However, most commercial colostrum preparations come from cows, not humans. The antibodies a mother cow gives to her calf are designed to fend off bacteria that are dangerous to cows; these may be very different from those that pose risks to humans. However, colostrum also contains substances that might offer general benefits, such as growth factors (which stimulate the growth and development of cells in the digestive tract and perhaps elsewhere) and transfer factor (which may have general immune-activating properties). While it isn’t 100% clear that the cow version of these substances is active in humans, it may be.

In addition, researchers working with colostrum from animal sources use a special technique to make it more useful for humans. They inoculate cows with bacteria and viruses that do affect humans. The cow in turn makes antibodies to them, and secretes those antibodies into its colostrum. Colostrum enriched in this way is called “hyperimmune colostrum,” and it has shown considerable promise as an infection-fighting agent.

Hyperimmune colostrum, however, is not available over the counter as a dietary supplement. Non-hyperimmune colostrum might have some value too, but the evidence is much weaker.

Requirements/Sources

Breast-feeding is the healthiest way to nourish a newborn, and a mother's colostrum is undoubtedly good for a baby. But don't believe claims (by at least one manufacturer) that most babies would die without colostrum. Colostrum is good for health, but it's not essential for life.

Colostrum has just become available in capsules that contain its immune proteins in dry form.

Therapeutic Dosages

The usual recommended dosage of colostrum is 10 g daily.

Note: Most of the studies of colostrum for infectious conditions used colostrum prepared by immunizing cows against specific diseases (hyperimmune colostrum). This form is not generally available as a dietary supplement.

Therapeutic Uses

Many, but not all, studies have found that hyperimmune colostrum might be able to help prevent or treat various forms of infectious diarrhea.^1–13

For years, people with ulcers were advised to eat a bland diet and drink lots of milk. Although this treatment was eventually found to be ineffective, according to one study in rats and a small human trial,^14,15 ordinary colostrum (although not milk) might help protect the stomach from damage caused by anti-inflammatory drugs. Presumably, the growth factors found in colostrum help stimulate the stomach to regenerate.

One small double-blind study suggests that use of ordinary colostrum by healthy men and women undergoing exercising training may improve body composition as compared to whey protein.²⁸

Weak evidence suggests that oral hygiene products containing ordinary colostrum might have beneficial effects in a disease of the mouth called lichen planus, as well as the condition known as Sjogren’s syndrome (which also affects the mouth, by reducing salivary flow).²⁹

Ordinary colostrum has been suggested as a treatment for short bowel syndrome (a condition following digestive tract surgery), chemotherapy-induced mouth ulcers, and inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis), but as yet there is no real evidence that it is effective.¹⁶

What Is the Scientific Evidence for Colostrum?

Infectious Diarrhea

Preliminary evidence suggests that hyperimmune colostrum might help prevent or possibly treat infectious diarrhea.

For example, a double-blind placebo-controlled trial of 80 children with rotavirus diarrhea found that hyperimmune colostrum (prepared by immunizing cows with rotavirus) reduced symptoms and shortened recovery time.¹⁷ Similar results were seen in another double-blind trial of about the same size.¹⁸ However, colostrum prepared by immunizing cows with a monkey form of rotavirus was not found effective for treating rotavirus in a double-blind trial of 135 children.¹⁹ The difference between these results may lie in the level and type of antibodies found in the particular colostrums used.

Both hyperimmune and normal colostrum have been tried for prevention or treatment of Cryptosporidium infection in people with AIDS, but the evidence that it works is weak at best.^20,21,22

Other studies suggest that hyperimmune colostrum might help prevent infection with shigella,²³ as well as E. coli (a common cause of traveler's diarrhea).^24,25 However, studies have not found it effective for treating shigella or E. coli diarrhea.^27,30

A study of Bangladeshi children infected with Helicobacter pylori (the organism that causes digestive ulcers) found no benefits with hyperimmune colostrum.²⁶

Safety Issues

Colostrum does not seem to cause any significant side effects. However, comprehensive safety studies have not been performed. Safety in young children or women who are pregnant or nursing has not been established.

Last reviewed May 2002 by Medical Review Board

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