Gut health super supplement
Colostrum is the first milk a mother produces for her baby. Today adults are consuming colostrum from cows to absorb acid in the gut.
“NOT your mother, not your milk.”
The vegan slogan instantly came to mind when
I first heard of the bovine colostrum supplement trend.
As cow’s milk loses favour – among vegans for ethical reasons and others who have found that diary aggravates their sinuses, their skin, their gut and their health in general – substitutes abound.
There is soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, coconut milk, goat’s milk and even donkey’s milk.
Just when I’d begun to wrap my mind around the idea that milk is not a must – the assertion that we need milk to grow – and instead convinced myself that society suffers from milk and cookies disease (sugar and milk, which apparently change the body’s ph, leads to acid productionand inflammation) here comes something else from the cow I’m told I need.
Bovine colostrum supplements are indeed derived from cows, but it’s not the same thing.
If you’ve ever breastfed then you know what colostrum is: that first strange yellowy “milk” that appears after the baby is delivered. The concentrated nutrients protect the newborn.
“Colostrum is neither vegetable nor animal,” says Dr Nervashnee Maharaj, a homoeopathic physician at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine at the University of Kwazulu-natal and co-author of The Soul, Health and Happiness: A Simple Guide.
“Although colostrum comes from cows, it has been an important part of the strict vegan diet of India’s Hindu rishis (spiritual leaders).”
In South Africa livestock breeders bank colostrum.
Dairy cattle produce immunoglobulins that are specific to many human pathogens. Wikipedia tells us that when Albert Sabin made his first oral vaccine against polio, the immunoglobulin he used came from bovine colostrum. (It was upstaged of course, by the arrival of antibiotics, and appears now as “natural” medicine.)
In its powder form, or as tablets when ingested by humans, it is able to bind to bacteria in the gut and cause its excretion.
People with psoriasis, those with what is referred to as “leaky gut” and those trying to shed a few kilos have taken to the supplement.
Those with arthritis who take non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs for treatment tend to suffer gastrointestinal injury because of the drugs and therefore they often take the supplement, which is rich in growth factors, to prevent and treat injuries. It may also be of use for ulcerative conditions of the bowel as a kind of anti-inflammatory.
Manufacturers claim that it is an all-around immune booster and they’ve conducted studies that show colostrum supplements can help prevent allergies and respiratory conditions.
Dr Maharaj and her family have been on a colostrum supplement for three months.
“A number of international speakers whose lectures I had attended emphasised that inflammation, the leaky gut syndrome and a compromised immune system were the root causes of most diseases. They mentioned that colostrum could heal these conditions.
“They also stressed that the food we eat lacks essential nutrients and there was a need to take nutritional supplements. Colostrum is a good nutritional supplement. So I decided to look for a colostrum formulation for my family that met two criteria, good quality and good price. I then consulted a colleague who has a lot of experience using this product. After our discussions, I decided to start using it. I also wanted to try it out before I recommended it to anyone else.”
She says that within a month they felt increased energy levels and she also lost 2kg.
While dementia is listed as a potential side effect in some papers, she said Alzheimer’s disease and dementia originate from inflammation and bacteria in the body and brain. Colostrum can help reduce inflammation and heal a leaky gut, so the harmful bacteria do not get into the blood stream.
“The formulation that we use is well absorbed by the gut because the special method of preparation protects the integrity of the colostrum. Colostrum is not milk, it is pre-milk. Cow’s colostrum is completely compatible for human consumption and does not have side-effects.”
Another user, a 62-year-old South Coast woman with arthritis, said her doctor had prescribed colostrum.
Her daughter now orders it for her online and she feels a substantial difference with regard to mobility in her joints.
Colostrum is definitely the new cannabis in terms of trends and people are sharing positive stories via the grapevine. If you are considering using it, do seek medical advice first and bear in mind that it is categorised as a supplement and not a medicine; colostrum products are therefore not subject to the same stringent rules and regulations as scheduled drugs.