Does Colostrum Lower Cholesterol?

Colostrum is the very first milk produce by a mother after she gives birth. Although devotees of natural health think of colostrum as a food produced by cows, human mothers also produce this extraordinarily nutritious food. In calves (which are easier to research than babies), colostrum provides not just protein but beta-carotene, the eight components of vitamin E, and other antioxidants that "jump start" the calf's immune system and increase survival.

Cow's milk, however, is not the best substitute for human milk. Most scientific research supports the notion that donkey's milk is.

Donkey's milk is very similar to (human) mother's milk in its content of lactose, proteins, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids, and in its immune-stimulant properties. Donkey colostrum has an additional property of causing red blood cells to release the chemical nitric oxide, or NO.

NO dilates arteries, opening them to greater circulation, compensating for any hardening of the arteries. And donkey milk has even greater power to cause the release NO than donkey colostrum.

No kind of colostrum actually lowers cholesterol, but the release of NO accomplishes the same result. Bovine colostrum has this effect in cows, but donkey colostrum, and, better, donkey milk has this effect in humans.

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References:

Tafaro A, Magrone T, Jirillo F, Martemucci G, D'Alessandro AG, Amati L, Jirillo E. Immunological properties of donkey's milk: its potential use in the prevention of atherosclerosis. Curr Pharm Des. 2007;13(36):3711-7.