What is Colostrum?

You might be wondering - What is COLOSTRUM?

So everyone knows colostrum is the first milk your body produces and that it's the first milk your baby will get.

BUT! What is it actually?! And what are it's benefits?👇

🌱Colostrum is filled with immunoglobins to boost your baby's immune system and protect it from illness.

🌱Colostrum has two times as much protein.

🌱Colostrum has four times as much zinc.

🌱Colostrum is lower in fat and sugar so it's easier to digest.

🌱Colostrum is thicker and more yellow

🌱Colostrum is rich in nutrients like:

      Immunoglobulin A (an antibody)

      Lactoferrin (a protein that helps prevent infection)

      Leukocytes (white blood cells)

      Epidermal growth factor (a protein that stimulates cell growth).

🌱It gets its color from carotenoids (an antioxidant) and vitamin A. Vitamin A plays a vital role in your baby's vision, skin and immune system.

🌱Colostrum is rich in magnesium, which supports your baby’s heart and bones, and copper and zinc, which also support immunity.

🌱Helps to establish a healthy gut by coating the intestines. This helps keep harmful bacteria from being absorbed.

How amazing does it feel when we are able to extract colostrum though?

🌠Colostrum also 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.

🌠Bioactive components that help...
Newborns have very immature and small digestive systems, and colostrum delivers its bioactives in a very concentrated low-volume form. Colostrum is known to contain immune cells (as lymphocytes) and many antibodies such as IgA, IgG, and IgM. These are some of the components of the adaptive immune system. Other immune components of colostrum include the major components of the innate immune system, such as lactoferrin, lysozyme, lactoperoxidase, complement, and proline rich polypeptides (PRP). A number of cytokines (small messenger peptides that control the functioning of the immune system) are found in colostrum as well, including interleukins, tumor necrosis factor, chemokines and others.