Bovine colostrum is the latest health grift to avoid

I swear, you can slap the label of "superfood" onto pretty much anything, add some crunchy granola influencer marketing, and convince people you've found a new miracle cure for whatever ails them. Enter "bovine colostrum," which isn't exactly new but has gained popularity due to massive amounts of advertising all over TikTok and other social media outlets.

Bon Appetit defines colostrum as "the first nourishment expressed from the mammary glands of a mammal, immediately and up to a few days after giving birth." For human infants, human colostrum provides helpful antibodies and nutrients for the first few days after birth. But does bovine colostrum, i.e. colostrum produced by dairy cows, provide any of the benefits that the companies selling it—for a pretty penny, of course—tout? "Miracle Moo" brand colostrum (which is currently the subject of a class-action lawsuit for false advertising) claims, for example, that it "supports skin health, thicker hair, healthy nails, healthy gut, immunity, and general mood." The brand "Cowboy Colostrum," which describes its product (in the most cringeworthy way possible, ew) as a "delicious milky treat for your inner child," states that it will give you a "boost in immunity," "glowing skin," and "enhanced athletic performance." And all over TikTok, folks are claiming that colostrum has given them glowing skin, better gut health, improved energy, and more; and in completely unsurprising news—many of these folks are hawking colostrum through various multi-level-marking companies. 

While there are some studies showing benefits for upper respiratory tract infections and gut issues, it's difficult to translate those benefits to adults humans, as many focus on newborn cows or pre-term infants or include dosages way higher than anyone could actually ingest in real life. And many of the studies are bankrolled by the colostrum industry itself, which is a clear conflict of interest. This literature review of bovine colostrum studies, for example, concluded that, "heterogeneous outcomes, high risk of bias, and inconsistent findings resulted in inconclusive evidence to substantiate a food-health claim."

Bon Appetit concludes its investigation into colostrum by stating that you really shouldn't be wasting your money on bovine colostrum:

When it comes to colostrum—and trendy dietary supplements across the board—Jamie Vespa, a registered dietitian and former food journalist, thinks that you're better off spending your time, money, and resources elsewhere.

What's more, while Health.com states that most bovine colostrum products are pasteurized before being dried into pills or powders, it's unclear if some of the hottest TikTok brands undergo the pasteurization process. At the very least, information about pasteurization is often absent from their websites, or is difficult to find. The company Cowboy Colostrum states in a blog post that you must actively search to find, for instance, that their product undergoes "gentle pasteurization," whatever that means. Furthermore, unpasteurized versions are easily found online. And you can bet that if raw milk can carry the H5N1 virus, so can unpasteurized, raw colostrum. You can also be sure that when RFK, Jr. becomes the head of public health in the United States, that these products will become even more popular and be even less regulated than they are currently.

So, stay vigilant, folks, and don't waste your money on this latest "health" grift.