Colostrum Research

Research Shows Colostrum To Be One Of Nature's Most Potent And Broad-Spectrum Substances

By: Nikki-Marie Welch, M.D.

Colostrum is the pre-milk liquid produced from the mammary glands during the first 24-48 hours after birth. It provides essential growth and immune factors that insure the health and vitality of the new-born infant. Nature has provided a powerful substance to help infants grow, develop, and resist disease. Now the medical evidence suggests that adults can also obtain the wide-ranging benefits that colostrum offers.

When I discovered colostrum, I confirmed that it had been extensively studied for more than 20 years by highly reputable doctors, scientists and research organizations. This helped me to feel a lot more comfortable about it than many less tested remedies.

Colostrum users often report enhanced well-being, energy and stamina, as well as a lower incidence of illnesses. In my practice I use colostrum to manage a variety of conditions, including lowered immune function, chronic or recurring infections, auto-immune diseases, colds, flu and allergies.

A Potent Boost To Immune Function

The onset of almost all infectious and degenerative disease is preceded or accompanied by a lowered immune system function. Studies show colostrum contains powerful immune factors (Immunoglobulins, lactoferrin, leukocytes, cytokines and interferon) that help restore immune function toward normal potency Colostrum also contains PRP (polyproline-rich-peptides), which have been shown to help boost an underactive immune system. PRP helps restore the thymus gland to optimal function. The thymus produces the vital T-cells that fight viruses and antigens. The PRP found in colostrum also helps balance the overactive immune system present in autoimmune diseases-conditions in which the body actually attacks itself. This makes colostrum helpful with illnesses such as Fibromyalgia, Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus and Scleroderma.

Anecdotal testimonials especially point to this ability to prevent disease. People who have been taking colostrum for a while report that they rarely get colds, flu, sinus or ear infections. When ear infections are present, their duration can be dramatically shortened by taking colostrum.

The factors found in colostrum work together naturally to enhance the immune system, whereas single isolated components, such as Interferon, are far more likely to have unwanted side effects, and are, at this time, extremely experimental in nature.

My own experience is a case in point. I have had a familiar, recurring sinus infection several times in the last few years. I usually treat this with fairly massive doses of vitamin C, garlic and zinc, and, using this treatment, it normally takes me approximately 10 days to return to normal health. The first time I used colostrum to treat this condition, ALL my symptoms had disappeared within two days.

Colostrum Shown To Be Powerful Natural Antibiotic

Epidemiologists, researchers and doctors from all over the world are warning that new strains of harmful bacteria and viruses are showing up with frightening speed internationally. Many of the new bacterial strains exhibit dramatically increased resistance to even the most powerful new antibiotics. Fortunately, colostrum helps with this growing problem in two important ways.

First, its immune factors greatly strengthen our body's natural defenses against disease-causing agents. Second, colostrum contains lactoferrin, which has been shown in numerous research studies to be a potent, broad-spectrum natural antibiotic and anti-viral agent (standard antibiotics have no effectiveness against viruses). In a study performed in The Netherlands, Lactoferrin proved a powerful inhibitor of the HIV-1 virus, the chief virus which causes AIDS.

In my practice, patients who start taking colostrum when they are already ill with a viral or bacterial infection have greatly accelerated healing and recovery times.

Growth Factors

Colostrum contains many important growth factors which promote healing, provide energy and stamina, and may possibly even create an anti-aging response through their effects on growth hormone. Independent medical studies show that colostrum's growth factors:

* Regenerate and accelerate normal growth or aged or injured muscle, bone, cartilage, skin, collagen, and nerve tissue.

* Help burn fat for fuel instead of muscle tissue in times of fasting (diet).

* Help build and retain lean muscle.

* Balance and regulate blood sugar levels.

* Accelerate the healing of burns, surgeries, cuts, abrasions, and sores with topical application.

* Help regulate the brain's 'feel-good' chemicals (serotonin and dopamine) to brighten our moods.

Also, recent research has shown that the body's ability to assimilate colostrum is greatly enhanced if it is water-soluble. In order to be made soluble, colostrum needs to be specially micronized and homogenized. Very few brands currently have this attribute. Luckily, it is very easy to test for water solubility - all you need is a glass of water!

Finally, if possible, see if you can find colostrum that comes from pasture-fed herds. When a cow eats healthy, green grass instead of dried, processed feed, it is getting the live enzymes that it is naturally designed to get, and its colostrum contains more of these beneficial enzymes that aid in assimilation by humans.

Another growing problem is that of food and water-borne pathogens. The Centers For Disease Control estimates that thirty million Americans suffer from food poisoning each year. When food-borne bacteria attack us, they must first attach to our intestinal tissue. This is the first stage of the process of infection.

Recent studies show that colostrum helps prevent the bacterial infection of food poisoning in two ways: first, by inhibiting the intestinal attachment of the microbes, and second, by killing the bacteria themselves. Colostrum has been proven to destroy virtually all the different bacteria and other pathogens which negatively affect our intestinal health, including Candida, Campylobacter, E.coli (many different varieties), Helicobacter pylori, Listeria, Rotavirus, Streptococcus (many different varieties), Staphylococcus and Salmonella, to name just a few.

Previous studies have also shown colostrum's antibiotic effectiveness. In 1978 the Journal of Pediatrics reported that research done by Drs. Ho and Lawton showed that leukocytes in colostrum were effective against E.coli and the yeast Candida albicans. In 1983 The Lancet published a study showing the prevention of Rotavirus infection by bovine colostrum. Rotavirus is one of the leading infectious killers in third world countries with poor sanitation and contaminated water supplies. It is spreading rapidly to industrialized nations, thanks to large-scale immigration and inexpensive world travel, and is rapidly becoming one of the leading causes of diarrheal diseases world-wide.

Two other leading diarrhea killers are the infectious clostridium bacterium, and shigellosis. In 1987, studies reported its advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology showing colostrum's effectiveness in killing clostridium, while trials performed by a group of doctors at Fort Deitric, MD, the US Army's infectious disease research facility, showed colostrum's effectiveness against shigellosis.

The primary reason for conducting this research was to determine the effectiveness of colostrum in combating infections for those traveling abroad. This was tailored particularly toward the prevention and healing of diarrheal diseases in US troops in third-world countries, since these are situations where the greatest threat to our soldiers' health is intestinal disease.

The researchers concluded that oral administration of bovine colostrum protects against infection by these bacterial scourges. In my practice patients who start taking colostrum when they are already ill with a viral or bacterial infection have greatly accelerated healing and recovery times.

Colostrum's Growth Factors'Not just For Newborns Anymore

Is Bovine Colostrum Safe and Effective For Humans?

Bovine colostrum is easily assimilable by humans, and is even richer in immune factors than human colostrum. In addition, only cows' colostrum contains special glycoproteins and protease inhibitors which are extremely effective at protecting the destruction of colostrum's active components by adult humans digestive enzymes and stomach acids. Bovine colostrum is safe for human consumption. There have been no contra-indications, side effects or allergies reported from human use of bovine colostrum. And those with lactose intolerance seem to suffer no ill-effects from the substance.

Colostrum's Effectiveness Varies Based On Its Source, And How It Is Processed

Colostrum must be treated and processed correctly in order to retain its effectiveness. Tests on several different brands of colostrum have shown that colostrum processed with excessive heat will lose some or most of its biological activity. This is especially true of colostrum tablets. The heat generated when tablets are formed is so high that it severely compromises colostrum's efficacy.

Accordingly, if you purchase colostrum, make sure that it hasn't been treated with excessive heat, and avoid colostrum tablets. I also recommend colostrum that comes from cows that are pesticide, antibiotic and hormone free. Artificial hormones, antibiotics and other toxic chemicals can minimize the effectiveness of the product, and create unwanted side-effects in the person consuming the colostrum.

Finally, if possible, see if you can find colostrum that comes from pasture-fed herds. When a cow eats healthy, green grass, instead of dried, processed feed, it is getting the live enzymes that it is naturally designed to get, and its colostrum contains more of these beneficial enzymes that aid in assimilation. This helps make the many benefits of colostrum more readily available for humans.

Experience in my office shows that patients generally thrive after taking colostrum: their conditions usually improve substantially, and they feel a greater sense of well-being, along with enhanced energy and stamina. And if we can help patients get better without using more toxic pharmaceuticals, we do it. I find the new cutting-edge field of nutritional biochemistry very exciting -- and that includes my discovery of colostrum as an important new nutritional supplement for enhanced health and well-being.

About the Authors

Nikki-Marie Welch, M.D. graduated from Duke University and The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and did post-graduate work at Yale. She is Board-certified in Internal Medicine. Dr. Welch practices Integrative Medicine in Sedona, Arizona.