Supplement Claims "First Food" Benefit

Everyone's looking for the fountain of youth. Everyone wants to believe in miracle cures and in safe, natural ways to enhance energy levels and defeat illnesses. Over the past year or so, a handful of natural products companies have answered the call with colostrum.
Colostrum is far from a new product--in fact, many people have taken it and may not even know it. In female mammals, colostrum is produced just prior to giving birth and serves as the first meal of breast-feeding infants. Its composition indisputably provides important temporary immune factors to the newborn that help protect against digestive tract infections. Somewhat more controversial is colostrum's role in helping infants develop their own permanent immune systems. Whatever the exact effect, there is little debate over the fact that breast-fed babies are generally healthier than bottle-fed babies.
It was only a matter of time before the grownups wanted a piece of the action.
Of course, collecting human colostrum was somewhat impracticable, so manufacturers had to look to the next closest thing--thus the emergence of bovine colostrum on the natural products market. According to Donald R. Henderson, M.D., of the West Gastrology Group in Los Angeles: "The biochemical differences between cow and human colostrum are very small. In fact, the two are almost identical." And although the FDA hasn't evaluated these claims, there are a number of studies that believers point to in support of bovine colostrum's effectiveness.
The collective claims being made by manufacturers run the gamut of human well-being: increased energy and alertness, fat loss, more supple skin, decreased allergy symptoms, decreased arthritis pain, improved eyesight, muscle growth, and protection against every illness from the common cold to cancer, from E. coli to HIV-related infections.
The big question, naturally, is, does it work? The answer, it seems, is, maybe.
Steve Bratman, M.D., a self-proclaimed skeptic and the Medical Director of TNP.com, an evidence-based Web site on natural medicine, explains that much of colostrum's effects on the immune system aren't understood well enough on a scientific level to validate the assertions made by various companies. "All the tests I know of were done with mixed results," Bratman says. "There were tests on the Cryptosporidium parasite, which affects people with AIDS; tests on various infections; and tests on shigella [a cause of dysentary]--all of them with mixed results. Cows don't even get most of these illnesses--why would their colostrum protect humans from illnesses they don't get?" Bratman goes on to criticize the studies he's familiar with, saying that in most cases, the size of the samples was too small to be statistically significant.
Whereas Bratman sees faulty logic--and a lack of scientific proof--in the assumption that bovine colostrum will have much of an effect on humans, Henderson is a firm believer who both recommends colostrum to his patients and uses it himself. "I've seen clear data to show that colostrum has been effective in slowing rotavirus infections [which cause severe diarrhea, and are a major cause of death in underdeveloped countries] as well as E. coli and other intestinal diseases. I've also seen clear data to show that [colostrum] supports cell growth, and there is a study in Japan that shows a slower rate of viral growth in patients infected with the hepatitis C virus who are taking colostrum."
Henderson explains that because the chemical composition of bovine colostrum is so similar to that of humans it's easy to take the "scientific leap of logic" and assume the possibility of its effectiveness in our species. More important to him is the anecdotal evidence he's seen in his own life and in those of his patients. "In general, people claim to have increased energy, they generally feel better, and they're not getting sick," he observes. "Some people even say they can't take [colostrum] at night because it keeps them awake." Henderson has also seen athletes who were taking colostrum "get the same effects as individuals [taking] human growth hormone--increased muscle efficiency, less fatigue, just better overall performance--without any of the negative side effects of the hormone."
Manufacturers are capitalizing on success stories like these, marketing colostrum to everyone from "two to 102" and from athletes to the infirm.
If sales are any indicator of effectiveness, then colostrum is working pretty well. Immune Tree, based in Salt Lake City, saw colostrum sales increase up to 65 percent a month in 1999; Houston-based Lactoferrin Products has enjoyed similar growth in its line of colostrum/ lactoferrin products, especially since it began an aggressive campaign to educate the public on its product; and Sedona, Ariz.-based Symbiotics, the first company onto the colostrum scene, claims sales of $40 million to $60 million, which puts it among the top-10 nutritional sellers in the country.
Retailers have seen the effects of this growth on their shelves. Rob Morton, the corporate vitamin buyer for Sun Harvest/Wild Oats stores in Texas and host of the radio show "Eye on Health" attests, "Since the wide publicity push about five months ago, there was a big surge in sales, and the growth has continued pretty significantly." Sun Harvest currently stocks about six brands of colostrum and has seen "everyone from the elderly to athletes" buying it. Although Morton hasn't received any direct feedback on the effectiveness of the products, he says, "People must think it's working, because they keep coming back to buy more."
As far as the differences between the various brands on the market, distinguishing between marketing hype and legitimate claims is no easy task. Each manufacturer begins by insisting that bovine colostrum is appropriate and effective for humans, and then goes on to argue that only its colostrum is truly appropriate or effective. These are some of the factors that companies use to distinguish their product from others on the shelves:
1. The number of hours allowed for colostrum collection after birth. It's claimed that the more time elapsed, the less the benefit to the immune system.
2. The method of ingestion. Those that offer a lozenge form give a number of reasons why that delivery form is best; those that offer capsule form have contrary reasons of their own.
3. Whether the colostrum is frozen during any stage of manufacturing. There's a debate over whether freezing breaks down immunofactors in the colostrum. Those that freeze the substance say the debate is ridiculous; those that don't, say it's not.
In an industry in which everyone says their way is best, and in which not many are doing it the same way, consumers and retailers can find it difficult to discern the truth from the marketing. Most companies are careful to back up broad claims with statements like: "We don't say that our product cures anything. It activates, regulates and balances the immune system, so it's prepared to respond to any physiological or metabolic insult that compromises our quality of life."
In fact, most manufacturers push colostrum not as a panacea but rather as a substance with the potential to enhance an already miraculous human system. As even the skeptical Bratman concedes: "I'm not saying that colostrum absolutely won't work or doesn't do the things these companies are claiming. Maybe it does. That's entirely possible. And if it works for an individual, that's great. Maybe it's a placebo effect, maybe it's not. It's just hard to say conclusively until the evidence is in, and I'm not convinced it is."