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At one point, I was approached in the gym for the third time in a short period about colostrum. Reason enough to pay some attention to it.
What is Colostrum?
Colostrum is the first feed that is formed in mammals after birth. In cows (
bovine colostrum), this is called foremilk (the first milk) and beestings (the second milk). Before a cow’s mammary glands secrete milk, they produce colostrum. Colostrum is full of growth hormones and antibodies. The calf, which has few of its own antibodies, needs these substances to strengthen its own immune system and stimulate growth.
The Benefits of Colostrum?
Colostrum contributes to overall health and is believed to particularly contribute to muscle growth. There are mainly 2 ways in which colostrum would contribute to this:
- By the presence of growth factors such as IGF-1 and cytokine precursors (muscle growth).
- By strengthening the immune system through the large amount of immunoglobulins and immune factors (general health)
Colostrum and the Immune System
As mentioned, colostrum is full of antibodies such as immunoglobulins (mainly IgG-1 and to a lesser extent IgM, IgA, and IgG-2). These antibodies are protein-containing molecules made when a (healthy) host reacts to invading pathogens (bacteria, viruses, and parasites). The mother thus passes on the antibodies she has built up in her life to the infant. Colostrum also has a medical application. It is used, among other things, to combat stomach infections and diarrhea in, for example, HIV patients.
The contribution to the immune system has been demonstrated in numerous independent studies. This will not directly contribute to more muscle growth, but it will prevent you from being unable to train for a while due to illness and/or nausea. In that sense, you would use it in the same way many also use vitamins and minerals. Manufacturers often indicate how much immune substances the product contains.
Do the Growth Factors in Colostrum Contribute to Muscle Growth?
It is less clear whether the large amount of growth factors such as IGF-1 actually lead to increased (IGF1-) levels in the body. Colostrum contains many active proteins such as IGF-1 (insulin growth factor). I will not go into too much detail about IGF-1 now, but it is known and demonstrated in various studies that higher IGF-1 levels in the body contribute to muscle growth. When Finnish researchers gave colostrum to a group of men and women and later looked at the IGF-1 levels, these had increased. Previous research they conducted also showed this to be the case. Especially in the group that took a high dose of 125 ml.
When researchers from Maastricht investigated the same with 60 grams of colostrum per day, the levels did not seem to have increased. It is therefore unclear whether colostrum increases IGF-1 levels or not.
In a study by American sports scientists, the differences in results were examined after consuming different sports drinks after training:
The first group received a shake with 75 grams of protein. [Protein = in this study a mixture of equal parts whey and casein – ed.] That group is called Pro.
The second group received a shake with 15 grams of protein and sixty grams of colostrum. That group is called Pro/Col.
A third group received a shake with 75 grams of protein, three grams of L-carnitine, three grams of taurine, and three grams of creatine. That group is called Pro/Cr.
The fourth group finally received a shake with fifteen grams of protein, sixty grams of colostrum, three grams of L-carnitine, three grams of taurine, and three grams of creatine. That group is called Col/Cr.
Besides, here are the results (“Colostrum vs protein”): Unfortunately, they included creatine in the study along with protein and colostrum, but not all combinations were studied. This makes the difference between colostrum and protein alone unclear. However, it is clear that when you add creatine in both cases, the colostrum/creatine combination performs better than the protein/creatine combination. Don’t rush to the store to buy Colostrum now. Colostrum is quite expensive.
Colostrum is Expensive
Even if Colostrum now contributes to higher IGF-1 levels and even if the combination with creatine yields more than protein with creatine, that for me is still no reason to buy colostrum.
The 125ml of liquid colostrum used in the study by the Finns costs about €15 per day! The powdered form used (60 grams was used in the studies by both the Finns and Maastricht) will cost you €6.60 (based on the cheapest I found) per day, well over €200 per month, while it was not evident that this increased IGF-1 levels.
Colostrum is the first milk that is formed in mammals after birth. In cows, this is called foremilk (the first milk) and beestings (the second milk). You can imagine that the supply of colostrum is therefore much lower than that of milk (which is the main source of protein powders), a cow is not giving birth all year round. That also means that you pay much more for colostrum than for “regular” protein.
(Whey)protein, for example, you can buy from about
€14.50 per kilo. The cheapest Colostrum I could find costs
€110 per kilo (calculated then). These prices can even go up to more than €1000 per kilo!!! Granted, in the latter case, it concerns capsules which are always more expensive because the product has to be further processed. Even in the case of the cheapest supplier, however, you see that colostrum is still more than 8 times as expensive as protein.
For improving overall health and strengthening the immune system, much lower amounts are prescribed. Supplementation for a month will then cost you around €25.
Colostrum to Burn More Fat?
A property also attributed to Colostrum is that it makes it easier to burn fat and less quickly burns muscle proteins for energy (thus, to a lesser extent, consuming your muscle mass during the cutting phase). However, this thought is also based on the idea that Colostrum increases your IGF-1 levels. It is indeed known that IGF-1 burns fat faster and uses fewer muscle proteins for energy when it cannot be obtained from food (such as during the diet in the cutting phase where you try to burn fat while maintaining built muscle mass). Since it is not established that colostrum contributes to raising IGF-1 levels, it should not be assumed that you will burn fat faster and break down muscles less quickly.
Moreover, the previously mentioned study by American sports scientists actually showed that colostrum leads to a higher fat gain! In the case of the combination of protein and creatine, the fat percentage dropped by half a percent in 12 weeks. For the group with Colostrum and creatine, the fat percentage actually increased by a tenth of a percent. In the case of the combination Colostrum/protein (60 to 15 grams), the fat percentage increased by half a percent while it almost dropped by half a percent with protein alone. However, it is also visible that the combination of Colostrum/creatine, besides more fat, also yields more lean muscle mass than protein/creatine, respectively 2.6 kilos and 1.6 kilos. It therefore yields 1 kilo more muscle mass and 0.6 kilo more fat after 12 weeks. For this, you would then pay well over €550 if you were to maintain the amounts used in the studies.
Conclusion
Colostrum has added value for overall health through the large amount of antibodies. This reduces the chance of certain bacterial infections. The supposed contribution to increasing IGF-1 levels is very questionable and with it also the contribution to muscle growth. Although more muscle growth has been demonstrated in the mentioned study, it also shows that fat mass increases. That Colostrum would lead to more fat burning has not been demonstrated in the studies. Finally, the high price of Colostrum makes it an expensive choice for probably little result.
References
- Mero A, Kähkönen J, Nykänen T, Parviainen T, Jokinen I, Takala T, Nikula T,Rasi S, Leppäluoto J. IGF-I, IgA, and IgG responses to bovine colostrum supplementation during training. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2002 Aug;93(2):732-9.PubMed PMID: 12133885.
- Mero A, Miikkulainen H, Riski J, Pakkanen R, Aalto J, Takala T. Effects ofbovine colostrum supplementation on serum IGF-I, IgG, hormone, and saliva IgA during training. J Appl Physiol (1985). 1997 Oct;83(4):1144-51. PubMed PMID:9338422.
- Kuipers H, van Breda E, Verlaan G, Smeets R. Effects of oral bovine colostrum supplementation on serum insulin-like growth factor-I levels. Nutrition. 2002 Jul-Aug;18(7-8):566-7. PubMed PMID: 12093430.
- Kerksick CM, Rasmussen C, Lancaster S, Starks M, Smith P, Melton C, Greenwood M, Almada A, Kreider R. Impact of differing protein sources and a creatine containing nutritional formula after 12 weeks of resistance training. Nutrition. 2007 Sep;23(9):647-56. PubMed PMID: 17679046.
