Video Transcript:
So obviously as a lot of us know, gut health is a really vital aspect to our overall health and well-being. And colostrum. Supplements have gained some attention recently, especially in the literature and research and its ability to help aid and maintain and even repair and rebuild that health.
So in today's blog, we're going to talk a lot more about colostrum. We're going to learn a lot of the benefits that for supplement can have on your gut health, and we'll also discover how to choose the right supplements for you and any precautions you may need to take while using them.
So let's dive into today's topic...
Hi there. My name's Megan. I'm a registered dietitian nutritionist with Flusso Nutrients where we provide supplement education and professional-quality grade supplements options to you in order to make the world of nutrition and supplements a little bit easier to navigate.
So as always, please make sure to discuss any new supplement protocol with your nutrition-literate healthcare provider before starting anything new as we can't possibly know your full medical history to make personal recommendations.
So without further ado, let's dive into today's topic, which is colostrum for leaky gut.
Colostrum Supplements For Leaky Gut
So for many of us, we may not have heard of colostrum, and don't worry, many people are unfamiliar with what this is.
So colostrum is a very nutrient rich and thick yellowish fluid produced by mammals when they lactate. And so in this first form of milk produced by the mammary glands, this happens late during pregnancy and also immediately after birth. And it's really important for the infant or the newborn mammal to get this milk because it's super, super beneficial.
Colostrum is packed with antibodies, got lots of growth factors, things like enzymes, vitamins, minerals, all kinds of nutrients that are essential for health and growth and development. And so these benefits are not just limited to newborns when they take colostrum or when they eat colostrum. These are benefits that we can also get if we eat colostrum or we supplement with it.
Benefits Colostrum Supplements
So if we break down these benefits, let's chat first about immune system support.
So as I said, colostrum is rich in Immunoglobulins, which are antibodies that help support the immune system. And these antibodies protect the body from harmful viruses and bacteria and pathogens, and up to 70% of our immune system lies within the gut. So this is something that is vital to our gut health as well because immunity is an essential part of gut health.
Colostrum's also filled with something called growth factors, and these help promote cell growth, tissue repair, and muscle development, which is really essential for the gut lining as well as reducing inflammation.
There's also other anti-inflammatory compounds in colostrum that can help reduce inflammation in the body and especially the gut, which supports our overall health and helps maintain again, that super healthy lining and structure of the gut.
Lastly, nutrient absorption is something that colostrum can help with because colostrum contains something called Lactoferrin, which is the protein that helps improve nutrient absorption and also helps support healthy intestinal flora.
Bovine Colostrum: Best Colostrum Supplement?
One of the most well-studied aspects of colostrum on gut health is the use of bovine colostrum for the condition leaky gut. And this has been seen to be really helpful, especially for athletes in these studies who suffer from she gut due to exercising a lot and the inflammation that can be produced when one exercises as much as they do.
So just as a recap, Leaky Gut is also known as intestinal permeability, and this is a condition where the lining of the small intestine becomes damaged, which can allow toxins, undigested food particles, and other harmful substances to pass through the gut lining into the bloodstream. And this can produce inflammation, digestive issues, and weakened immune system.
So to recap, a lot of these studies, Bovine Colostrum, which is colostrum sourced from cows, has been frowned to be effective in addressing leaky gut. This contains, like I said, high levels of immunoglobulins, growth factors and other nutrients that can repair the damaged gut lining and reduce inflammation.
And so research suggests that this colostrum may help improve those symptoms associated with leaky gut because it's improving the barrier, it's improving the function of the gut, and it's reducing inflammation, which is what a lot of those symptoms can be tied back to.
What Is The Right Dosage For Colostrum Supplements?
So as always, it's really important to consider dosage for the condition that you're looking to improve. And so of course, how much colostrum can impact conditions like leaky gut, how much is enough?
So obviously determining the appropriate dose of colostrum depends on a bunch of individual factors like age, weight, and severity of your symptoms.
It's essential to consult with your nutrition-literate healthcare provider in determining a dosage that would work best for you for your specific situation.
With that said, though, in general, it's recommended to start with a lower dose and then gradually increase that dose as needed.
So some studies have suggested that starting with a dose of 500 milligrams to a thousand milligrams of colostrum per day, increasing that dose as necessary can be helpful for conditions like leaky gut.
So if you're starting off on a dose like this, it's essential to monitor your symptoms and of course adjust that dose as necessary as always under the guidance of your healthcare provider.
Colostrum Supplements Can Help With Other Conditions?
Now, you may be thinking if the colostrum can help with leaky gut, can it help with other gut health conditions? And the answer is yes, although there's more research needed in this topic. Preliminary results of certain research has shown that other gut health conditions can benefit from colostrum supplementation.
So one being irritable bowel syndrome, also known as I B s colostrum has been shown to help alleviate IBS symptoms by reducing inflammation and repairing and healing the gut lining. Of course, for folks with I B S, a lot of times inflammation can be contributing to increased severity of symptoms like gas and bloating and distension, so colostrum may be able to help with this.
Another condition that colostrum may able to help with is ulcers because the growth factors may aid in healing of these ulcers and promoting regeneration of damaged tissue that is really irritating and causes unpleasant inflammation in the gut health lining.
Lastly, other conditions that have been shown to be improved by colostrum is gastroenteritis. So colostrum's immunoglobulins can help combat the viruses and bacteria that can cause gastroenteritis and also helps reduce the inflammation and promote healing of the gut from this infection.
Choosing The Best Colostrum Supplements
Now, before you head out and go buy a colostrum supplement, I want to talk about some of the things to look out for in colostrum supplements to make sure you're getting enough high quality supplementation from something that you're buying.
So when choosing the best supplement, of course consider the source. So supplement derived from bovine colostrum is where most of the research is located. So finding this type of colostrum is going to probably have the most benefit for you and the most significant benefit, of course for gut health.
The other thing is processing. So ensuring that the colostrum supplement is minimally processed to help preserve its nutrition content is really important to make sure you're getting enough bang for your buck.
Another thing to look out for obviously is quality. So shopping with reputable brands that adhere to strict quality standards and undergoes third party testing is really important. And at Flusso Nutrients, that's really important to us as well, and it's something that all of our supplements undergo.
And then lastly, of course, in dosage. So choosing a supplement that provides the appropriate dosage to help support gut health is really essential, right? Of course, therapeutic doses are going to be effective, and so if we're not taking the therapeutic dose, we're not going to receive the same benefits. So making sure you're buying a supplement with enough of that nutrition from colostrum is going to help you see an improvement with your symptoms.
Colostrum Supplements: Precautions and Potential Side Effects
Lastly, I wanted to chat about some precautions and potential side effects that you could have while taking colostrum because as we know, all supplements could potentially have certain side effects, just like certain medications.
So while colostrum supplements are generally considered safe for most people, some individuals may experience side effects and may need to use some precautions when taking them.
So some potential side effects of colostrum supplements include certain gastrointestinal discomfort like bloating and diarrhea, and these side effects are usually mild and go away on their own.
If you have a dairy allergy or are lactose intolerant, you may need to choose a colostrum supplement or hypoallergenic to reduce some of those unpleasant symptoms that you might experience.
Colostrum may also interact with certain medications, and so it's essential to, again, make sure you're consulting your healthcare provider before starting a classroom supplement.
And of course, if you're pregnant, if you are breastfeeding or if you are interested in giving a classroom supplement to your child or are an individual with a compromised immune system, you should especially consult your healthcare professional before using colostrum supplements.
So to wrap up today's blog, yes, colostrum supplements can hold promise as a natural and effective way to support gut healing, and of course, overall gut health for various reasons, like their rich content, immunoglobulins and growth factors in their anti-inflammatory properties.
And so of course, colostrum supplement may help alleviate the symptoms associated not only with leaky gut, but also with other gut health conditions like we discussed.
So if you're interested in trying a colostrum supplement for yourself, you can check out our professional-quality supplements that we have at Flusso. So you can go ahead and take a look.
So thank you so much again, and we will expect you in our next blog.