TikTok has inspired some interesting wellness-related and nutritional experimentation, including hair slugging, liquid chlorophyll, and eating oranges in the shower. And this one is no exception: TikTokers (over 191 million, to be exact) are buzzing about colostrum… you know, the “first milk” fluid that comes out shortly after you give birth and before regular breast milk comes in.
Some new parents on the social media app are figuring out how to express it for their infants, or even discussing what to do when they leak the fluid late in pregnancy, but others are taking forms of it it themselves as part of their own diet. That’s right, adults are taking colostrum too, mostly in supplement form, claiming it to be beneficial gut and immune health.
What are the benefits of colostrum for babies?
A quick refresh, in case it’s been a while or you’ve never been familiar with colostrum: It’s packed with nutrients, even more so than mature breast milk, to give babies a boost with their immunity, digestion, growth, and development right after birth. “Newborns need proteins, carbs, and lipids from colostrum. Its antibodies and immunological components protect newborns against infections, thanks to the parent’s antibodies,” says Dr. Shara Cohen, an immunology research scientist and CEO and Founder of Cancer Care Parcel. It also helps jumpstart the newborn’s gastrointestinal tract for healthy digestion, adds Cohen.
Once the birthing parent’s colostrum supply is up, which is usually after one or two days postpartum, according to Dr. Kim Langdon, an OB-GYN based in Ohio, there’s a chance that babies who have certain health conditions including preterm birth or short bowel syndrome could potentially benefit from supplementing colostrum into their diets along with breast milk (which may contain some colostrum remnants) for an added nutritional boost. There’s no more human colostrum left for the baby to consume at that point, so bovine colostrum, early milk from a cow in powdered form, is one potential high-protein option — a 2021 review indicates that more larger clinical trials need to be done to see if this can work as a supplement for all babies, particularly babies who have sensitivities to lactose.
Image: Getty
Is it okay for adults to take colostrum?
The results are potentially promising for babies to take colostrum, which isn’t a huge surprise, since that is the main consumer base. But is there any truth to the claim that it can be beneficial to adults’ health, as TikTokers and supplement brands claim?
There aren’t many adults out there drinking straight colostrum from a bottle — they’re mostly taking similar supplements made from bovine colostrum. Dr. Sarah Rahal, a board-certified neurologist, and the CEO + Founder of ARMRA, a brand selling bovine colostrum supplements, assures that it is safe for humans to consume, and touts colostrum’s “unparalleled anti-inflammatory properties when taken regularly.”
One study out of India indicates that this could be true, that colostrum made by cows is a high-protein “universal donor” that’s super similar to the composition of human colostrum. It may calm inflammation and strengthen immune response in the gut, and even contain growth factors to help with post-workout muscle recovery.
Because colostrum has been a staple of alternative and functional medicine, there has been less use of it as a supplement in mainstream medicine. More research is beginning to be done, and there need to be more placebo-controlled and randomized clinical trials to explore more of the benefits of colostrum for adult nutrition.