Colostrum

All you want to know about Colostrum

Not to be confused with claustrum.

Colostrum (also known as beestings or first milk or "immune milk") is a form of milk produced by the mammary glands of mammals in late pregnancy and the few days after giving birth.

Contents

Effects in infants

Colostrum is high in carbohydrates, protein, and antibodies and low in fat (as human newborns may find fat difficult to digest). Newborns have very small digestive systems, and colostrum delivers its nutrients in a very concentrated low-volume form. It has a mild laxative effect, encouraging the passing of the baby's first stool, which is called meconium. This clears excess bilirubin, a waste product of dead red blood cells which is produced in large quantities at birth due to blood volume reduction, from the infant's body and helps prevent jaundice. In humans and mice, colostrum contains immunoglobulins such as IgA and IgM. IgA will be absorbed through the intestinal epithelial, travel through the blood and will be secreted onto other Type 1 mucosal surfaces. Colostrum also contains a variety of growth factors (IGfs).

Adult consumption

There are a few scientific studies suggesting that adult human consumption of bovine colostrum is beneficial to general health. Proponents of the use of bovine colostrum by humans as a dietary supplement claim that bovine colostrum raises both general immunity and physical strength, and sometimes cite the few small-population studies of bovine colostrum in humans. [1][2][3] However, the claims made for bovine colostrum in humans go far beyond the findings of any of these studies, and rely on anecdotal evidence (if any) to support the claims.

Nevertheless, colostrum is included in some dishes. For instance, Leipäjuusto (lit. 'bread cheese') or juustoleipä, which is also known in English as Finnish squeaky cheese, is a fresh cheese traditionally made from cow's beestings.

With antibodies

Some biotechnology companies have now taken further steps by injecting into cows proprietary vaccines protecting against human diseases, theorizing that such "hyper-immunized" primed colostrum might allow disease specific antibodies to be highlighted in the bovine colostrum, resulting in a dietary supplement with attributes for fighting specific pathogens. A few examples are IBD and IBS, Mucositis and Influenza [4] [5].

External links


References

  1. ^ Siber G. (1992) Immune globulin to prevent nosocomial infection. New England Journal of Medicine. 327(4):269-71.[1]
  2. ^ Korhonen H.1; Marnila P.1; Gill H.S.2 Milk immunoglobulins and complement factors, British Journal of Nutrition, Volume 84, Supplement s1, 1 November 2000 , pp. 75-80(6) [2]
  3. ^ Mitra AK, Mahalanabis D, Ashraf H, Unicomb L, Eeckels R, Tzipori S. Hyperimmune cow colostrum reduces diarrhoea due to rotavirus: a double-blind, controlled clinical trial, Acta Paediatr. 1995 Sep;84(9):996-1001[3]
  4. ^ Anadis - Research & Product Development
  5. ^ Anadis Flubody
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colostrum"

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