Colostrum

Beestings redirects here: or you may have wanted bee sting or beasting.

Not to be confused with claustrum.

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

Colostrum is a natural secretion produced at the beginning of lactation that provides nutrition, growth factors and protection against disease to the newborn. Colostrum offers a wide spectrum of general health benefits for adults ranging from an enhancement of immunity to the improvement in physical fitness.

Human and bovine colostrums are thick, sticky and yellowish. Human colostrum has high concentrations of nutrients and antibodies, but it is small in quantity. Cow's, (Bovine) Colostrum is virtually identical to that of humans and, in fact, contains a higher percentage of some of the more beneficial peptides, making colostrum a health benefit that humans.

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.

There are five classes of immunoglobulins found in all mammals (including humans), IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG and IgM. Colostrum contains all five Immunoglobulins.

There are many beneficial proteins in the colostrum, including a variety of growth factors (IGfs). Bovine colostrum is sometimes used by humans as a dietary supplement for general immunity and physical strengh. Numerous companies, including leading biotechnology companies such as Anadis have now taken this many steps further by injecting cows with proprietary, Government approved, vaccines against human disease causing pathogens. From this "hyper-immunized" Primed colostrum, one could purify the antibodies to form the basis of their research & development, and product range. Specifically, such a method allows for a disease specific antibodies to be highlighted in the bovine colostrum, resulting with a dietary supplement that has, in addition to the general benefits of colostrum, additional attributes for fighting specific pathogens. For example, Anadis is manufacturing a product that has antibodies against e.coli and is developing a product with anti-flu virus antibodies.

External links

• Anadis Limited Website