Soon after giving birth, female mammals produce colostrum, which is a milk-like substance that jump-starts a newborn's immune system. Researchers now believe that the benefits of colostrum don't necessarily end there. If you have a compromised immune system or are just looking for a boost to your healthy immune system, colostrum may be the jump-start you need to fight infection or immune-related chronic diseases such as cancer.
The immune-boosting property of colostrum stems from molecules called transfer factors, which were first discovered in 1949 by Sherwood Lawrence. While treating tuberculosis patients, Lawrence noticed that immune response factors could be transferred from blood donor to recipient, hence the term "transfer factors." According to Burton Goldberg in Alternative Medicine, transfer factors "can 'educate' or modulate a recipient's immune system, teaching it to recognize these specific antigens and communicating the knowledge that they are present."
Of course, HIV and hepatitis concerns make modern blood transfer a risky method of boosting recipients' immune systems with transfer agents. In 1999, fifty years after Lawrence's discovery, researchers discussed the potential role of transfer factors in modern medicine at the Eleventh International Conference on Transfer Agents in Mexico. Bovine colostrum was a hot topic at the convention; it is the most abundant source of transfer factors known today.
Bovine colostrum is replete with transfer factors such as hydrogen peroxide and IgG-type immunoglobulins. You may already be familiar hydrogen peroxide -- the stuff the school nurse put on your skinned knees. Our healthy cells regularly produce hydrogen peroxide to attack invading pathogens; in fact, doctors in the British army who were aware of this fact used intravenous hydrogen peroxide to treat influenza in India.
Bovine colostrum's high concentration of IgG-type immunoglobulins is especially significant for people suffering from acquired immune deficiency syndrome. While a healthy immune system can easily fight a form of diarrhea called cryptosporidiosis, it can be deadly for AIDS patients. IgG-type immunoglobulins are particularly effective against Cryptosporidium parvum, the microorganism that causes this form of disease. In fact, according to the Health Science Institute's Underground Cures, "colostrum is able to ameliorate or completely eliminate the clinical symptoms of those suffering from cryptosporidiosis."
By boosting your immune system, colostrum also proves an effective anti-cancer treatment. As you may already know, cancer is related to immune deficiency. Cancer cells develop in our bodies all the time, but our immune systems effectively kill the cancer cells before they further develop and symptomatically appear as the disease we know as "cancer." The development of cancer indicates that the immune system was ineffective in fighting the malignant cells that appeared; these cells took advantage of a weakened state, grew, and spread out of control.
Boosting your immune system builds your body's defenses against naturally occurring cancer cells, thereby preventing a full-blown progression of the disease. If you already have cancer, colostrum is vital for your treatment. Its immune-boosting abilities will help your body fight off the cancer. Colostrum furthermore contains the antioxidant phytic acid, which prevents iron from reaching and nourishing cancer cells.
Transfer factors may become a valuable way to treat communicable disease in the future as researchers learn more and gain the ability to isolate specific factors. In fact, transfer factors may someday cure the diseases ravaging the world population, such as AIDS and Ebola. After the tragic 2002 Ebola outbreak in Uganda, freelance journalist Sam Wainaina explored the potential benefits of transfer factors in Africa. In his article, Wainaina concluded that had transfer factors been used during the outbreak, it could have been contained sooner, saving lives and avoiding mass hysteria.
Research for cures through transfer factors continues, but you can take advantage of the benefits of colostrum and the amazing transfer factors it contains today. If your immune system is compromised, you don’t have to wait to help yourself by learning more about colostrum supplements now.
The experts speak on colostrum and immune support:
"What is colostrum?"
Colostrum, a milk-like substance that female mammals produce soon after giving birth, is full of potent, immune-stimulating factors that jump-start a newborn's immune system. It is also thought that it can help a person with colon cancer fight off a recurrence of the disease, says Robert Rountree, M.D., cofounder of the Helios Health Center in Boulder, Colorado.
Alternative Cures by Bill Gottlieb, page 169
"The immune-boosting property of colostrum stems from molecules called transfer factors (TFs)"
What kind of immunological information is transferred? The TFs can "educate" or modulate a recipient's immune system, teaching it to recognize these specific antigens and communicating the knowledge that they are present. …TFs from colostrum taken as a supplement provide resistance to infection and disease.
Alternative Medicine by Burton Goldberg, page 601
Judging by what came out of the 11th International Congress on Transfer Factors in Monterrey, in 1999 as well as recent information, hope for Africa lies in what has been known in medical literature for over 50 years as Transfer Factors or TFs.
The most abundant source of Transfer Factors today is cow colostrum, what Dr Rob Robertson calls "God's first gift to the newborn." Transfer Factors are the vital healing ingredients in colostrum.
Dr Robertson was for many years head of emergency medicine at the Western Baptist Hospital in Kentucky, USA, and is a regular radio talk show host on the subject.
Before cow colostrum was discovered as a rich source of Transfer Factors blood was the main source of this healing agent. Indeed, during the Kikwit epidemic, a Congolese surgeon seriously considered using the blood of those who had survived the initial attack to treat subsequent cases.
Dr Robertson says that, unlike antibodies, TFs are small molecules that are not consumed in the process of "binding" as happens when disease is confronted in the body.
Dr William Hennen, author of Transfer Factor, the Natural Immune Booster, who compounded the cutting edge variant of TF called Transfer Factor Plus, describes this immune agent as a "concentrated immune massaging system."
Besides raising the IQ of the individual's immune system as well gathering intelligence so as to alert naive and dormant immune systems to the impending danger, TFs extracted from colostrum and taken orally are also able to boost "natural killer cell" (NK) activity as well as moderate an over-excited immune system through the "suppressor" component in TFs.
Moreover, TFs will act as a memory agent for the immune system. Asserts Dr Hennen: "Transfer Factors are immune messenger molecules that educate and alert naive immune cells to an impending danger. They perform a catalytic role in the immune system."
Can Africa Avoid the Coming Killer Diseases? By Sam Wainaina, as posted online
"Bovine colostrum is full of immune-boosting
transfer factors, such as hydrogen peroxide and IgG-type immunoglobulins"
Hydrogen peroxide is a natural substance manufactured by normal, healthy human cells to regulate metabolism and attack invading pathogens. It also occurs naturally in rain and snow, in fruits and vegetables, and in mother's milk, with particularly high concentrations found in colostrum. In 1920, The Lancet reported the use of intravenous hydrogen peroxide by British Army doctors in India, who used it to treat troops suffering from influenza….
Alternative Medicine by Burton Goldberg, page 425
Antibodies are protein molecules set in motion by the immune system against a specific antigen. Also referred to as immunoglobulins, antibodies occur in the blood, lymph, colostrum, …. The antibody binds tightly with the antigen as a preliminary for removing it from the body or destroying it.
Alternative Medicine by Burton Goldberg, page 22
… Cryptosporidium parasites cause acute diarrhea in people with strong, healthy immune systems but can be life-threatening in those who are immune compromised. Studies published in Infection & Immunity …have shown that colostrum is able to ameliorate or completely eliminate the clinical symptoms of those suffering from cryptosporidiosis.
Underground Cures by Health Sciences Institute, page 12
…Hyperimmune bovine colostrum is rich in immunoglobulins of the IgG type, which are protective against such infectious microorganisms as Cryptosporidium parvum (a major cause of AIDS-associated diarrhea), diarrheogenic Escherichia coli strains, Shigella flexneri, Clostridium difficile, and rotavirus, the most common cause of severe diarrhea in young children.
PDR For Nutritional Supplements by Sheldon Saul Hendle and David Rorvik, page 65
A bovine colostrum product derived from cows immunized against Candida albicans was reported to be effective in reducing levels of this fungal pathogen in severely immuno-compromised patients. …
PDR For Nutritional Supplements by Sheldon Saul Hendle and David Rorvik, page 66
Colostrum …It's rich in immune-supporting factors, and some alternative practitioners believe that it can help control both acute and chronic diarrhea, says Andrew Gaeddert, a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild and director of the Get Well Clinic in Oakland, California. Look for a concentrated, purified, non-allergenic form of bovine (cow) colostrum and follow the dosage directions on the label, he advises.
Alternative Cures by Bill Gottlieb, page 212
In addition, Dr. Marrongelle recommends Woben-zyme, a German enzyme formula that can help reduce inflammation of prostate tissue, and colostrum, which is high in immunoglobulins (specialized immune defense proteins) that protect against infections. …
Alternative Medicine by Burton Goldberg, page 789
If you must take antibiotics, restore the body's "friendly" bacteria by taking a probiotic supplement,…. colostrum is another effective probiotic that can be taken on a rotating basis with acidophilus and bifidobacteria. Take 300 milligrams three times daily, between meals.
Smart Medicine For Healthier Living by Janet Zand LAc OMD Allan N Spreen MD CNC James B LaValle RPh ND, page 79
… The friendly bacteria not only fight Candida overgrowth, a common complication of ulcerative colitis, but they are required to resolve any condition involving the gastrointestinal tract.
Smart Medicine For Healthier Living by Janet Zand LAc OMD Allan N Spreen MD CNC James B LaValle RPh ND, page 206
Lactoferrin: Lactoferrin, an abundant protein component of human colostrum, binds to iron. By binding to iron, lactoferrin makes iron less available for use by bacteria and other pathogenic microorganisms, including fungi and viruses, which use iron to promote their own growth. Lactoferrin's ability to regulate iron also influences T-cell, neutrophil, and monocyte proliferation, all essential components of the immune response. Iron-regulating strategies are also essential to normal growth and the control of the advancement of disease processes in the body.
Viral Immunity by J.E, page 294
… Another immunomodulator made from milk colostrum is Cytolog, which may also prove helpful in boosting the immune system to treat cancer.
Alternative Medicine by Burton Goldberg, page 602
… Other strains of bacteria, though not destroyed by colostrum, were strongly inhibited in their growth. Even more interesting is that friendly bacteria were not destroyed by colostrum. …
Healing Pets With Nature's Miracle Cures By Henry Pasternak DVM CVA, page 103
"Colostrum as an anti-cancer agent"
Phytic acid … is a powerful antioxidant. Phytic acid is found in very high concentrations in colostrum,…. A specially formulated form of phytic acid, called Cellular Forte with IP-6 is used to treat cancers of many types. One of its major effects is to prevent iron from reaching cancer cells. Its iron binding power is so great that it is also used to treat the iron-overload disease, hemochromatosis.
Health And Nutrition Secrets by Russell L Blaylock MD, page 335
"Transfer factors / colostrum as a powerful weapon against communicable diseases"
The Ebola outbreak in northern Uganda that spread to the southwest and west of the country over the past three months had the potential to cause a total breakdown of Uganda's medical service.
But if the proceedings of the 11th International Congress on Transfer Factors held in Monterrey, Mexico, in 1999, were taken seriously, the outbreak could have been contained sooner …
African nations are duty bound to remember that there may be no time for vaccines when these predicted epidemics explode across the continents. Judging by what came out of the 11th International Congress on Transfer Factors in Monterrey, in 1999 as well as recent information, hope for Africa lies in what has been known in medical literature for over 50 years as Transfer Factors or TF.
Can Africa Avoid the Coming Killer Diseases? By Sam Wainaina, as posted online
"More possible benefits of colostrum"
Colostrum … upon contact with stomach acid; inhibits attachment from, and kills campylobacter, Candida and e. coli bacteria (with colostrum Leucocytes), clostridium, food poisoning, helicobacter pylori, listeria, rotavirus, salmonella, shigellosis, and streptococcus; counters leaky gut and irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, ulcers, chronic fatigue, diabetes, autoimmunity, (rheumatoid) arthritis, lupus, and cancers; improves intestinal assimilation of nutrients, inhibits protein breakdown, shifts energy sources from carbohydrates to fats, spurs glucose transport inmuscles,may inhibit scleroderma,fibromyalgiaandmultiple sclerosis.
Anti-Aging Manual by Joseph B Marion, page 20
Leptin reduced food consumption 60% in Leptin-deficient mice, while increasing energy. Leptin is found in mother's milk colostrum: large fat cells indicate Leptin deficiency. Leptin-deficient obese mice lost 40% of body weightafter 1 month on Leptin, and reduced diabetes, eventually becoming as lean as the most athletic mice: while normal mice lost 12%ofbodyweight. Leptin was recently found to regulate at least six Gene clusters, inhibiting fat-production enzyme Acety 1-CoA-Carboxylase, reducing synthesis of fat cells, while improving fat-burning in muscle cells. …
Anti-Aging Manual by Joseph B Marion, page 10
Bovine colostrum's putative exercise-performance-enhancement is mainly attributed to such growth factors as IGF-1.
PDR For Nutritional Supplements by Sheldon Saul Hendle and David Rorvik, page 65
Playford RJ, Floyd DN, Macdonald CE, et al. Bovine colostrum is a health food supplement which prevents NSAID induced gut damage. Gut. 1999; 44:653-658.
PDR For Nutritional Supplements by Sheldon Saul Hendle and David Rorvik, page 66
Taken as a supplement, colostrum can boost the immune system and help the body to burn fat and build lean muscle. It may also accelerate the healing of injuries, increase vitality and stamina, and have an anti-aging effect. …
Prescription For Nutritional Healing by Phyllis A Balch CNC and James F Balch MD, page 66
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