Grass-fed colostrum 101
If there were one food that consistently ranks at the top of my list for building health, it would be colostrum. For the purposes of this post, I’m referring specifically to colostrum from cows, as it’s the most widely available form.
Preferentially, I consume colostrum from grass-fed cows, because as with any food, it’ll always be cleaner and more nutritious when the animal is eating its natural diet.
Now, in case you didn’t know, colostrum is the first form of milk produced by mammals (including humans) right after giving birth, and it serves as the newborn's primary source of nutrition and immune protection during the first few days of life. Its main purpose is to strengthen and support the newborn's immune system (which is underdeveloped at birth), the healthy development of the baby's gut, and overall growth.
This food is so critical to life that calves who don’t receive it within the first few hours of birth have a profoundly high risk (50-80%) of dying within the first three weeks of life...or developing diseases later in life if they're lucky enough to survive.
So what are these amazing nutrients, and how are they beneficial? Get comfy, because there are a lot (several hundred, in fact…though I’ll just hit the high notes here).
• IMMUNOGLOBULINS: (IgG, IgA, IgM): These are antibodies that help strengthen the immune system, provide long-term immunity (nature’s vaccination program), provide mucosal protection throughout the GI tract and respiratory tract, and fight off infections.
• LACTOFERRIN: A protein that helps bind iron, making it unavailable to pathogens and thus inhibiting their growth. This process ensures that iron is available for the body's own needs and for supporting red blood cell production. Lactoferrin also has antimicrobial properties that help you build a robust immune system, while supporting the growth of beneficial bacteria and providing you with a healthy digestive system.
As if that weren't enough, lactoferrin is an antioxidant, promotes wound healing, is anti-inflammatory, protects DNA, enhances brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and brain connectivity, inhibits angiogenesis and cell proliferation, regulates metabolic disorders, inhibits biofilm formation, has anti-fungal and anti-parasitical properties, helps prevent/repair leaky gut, and promotes bone regeneration.
• GROWTH FACTORS (IGF-1, IGF-2):
IGF-1 is crucial for energy metabolism, tissue repair and regeneration, and for promoting muscle growth by stimulating protein synthesis, making it essential for everyone at every stage of life for recovery, healing, and overall vitality. There’s also ongoing research showing how IGF-1 (and lactoferrin) can reduce the damage caused by spike proteins.
IGF-2 plays a vital role in cell growth and development, particularly during fetal development and childhood. It’s also believed to support brain health, cognitive function, memory, and learning.
• VITAMINS AND MINERALS: Grass-fed colostrum is rich in vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and B-complex, as well as minerals like calcium, phosphorus, manganese, zinc, copper, iron, and magnesium.
• PROLINE-RICH PEPTIDES (PRPs): These have anti-inflammatory properties, alleviate allergy symptoms, and modulate the immune system (which can help with autoimmune disorders).
• SIALIC ACID: a naturally occurring sugar molecule found abundantly in colostrum. It plays a vital role in supporting various biological functions essential to health, especially with regard to brain development, the formation of neural connections, and improving cognitive function.
Beyond its neurological benefits, sialic acid also supports immune function by acting as a decoy of sorts for pathogens, by binding to them and preventing their attachment to your cells...which ultimately reduces your risk of infections. Like PRPs, it also helps modulate immune function by stabilizing the mucosal barrier and helping your cells communicate more efficiently with each other.
• STEM CELLS: vital for wound healing, speeding up the healing process, supporting the regeneration of damaged tissues, recovering from injuries and surgeries, enhancing the immune system, aiding in the replacement and renewal of aging cells, promoting longevity and vitality, reducing inflammation, repairing neural damage, promoting the growth of new neural connections, improving the outcome of neurological diseases, enhancing cognitive function, and providing a source of new healthy cells that can replace damaged or dysfunctional ones.
• LEPTIN: a hormone that plays a crucial role in regulating metabolism and energy balance by signaling the brain about the body's energy stores, influencing appetite, and promoting efficient nutrient use. It also affects fat metabolism by helping to regulate the breakdown and storage of fat in the body.
• CYTOKINES: regulate immune responses, reduce inflammation, and support cellular communication
• ENZYMES (Lysozyme and Lactase): aid in digestion, protect against pathogens, and promote gut health
• NUCLEOTIDES: support cellular metabolism, improve immune function, and aid in DNA and RNA synthesis.
I’ll stop there, because it should be easy to see by now why colostrum is high on my list of amazing foods (and this post is already getting too long)…the benefits are simply tremendous.
In fact, next to creatine, colostrum was one of the first foods I knew I wanted to include when I created “Thunderbird” because I had used it for years on myself, my boys, and my clients with great results, and my goal with Thunderbird was to create a functional coffee that supported healthy aging, vitality, muscle building, athletic performance, exercise recovery, brain health, gut health, immune function, and just overall help people kick mucho booty...without having to spend hundreds of dollars a month on expensive supplements.
As for the dose, it doesn’t really take a lot to receive benefits, with dosages ranging from 500 mg to 2000 mg daily, depending on a person’s individual health goals and needs. One serving of Thunderbird provides you with a whopping 1200 mg of grass-fed colostrum...in addition to all of the other amazing stuff in it.