Colostrum improves recovery in athletes

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2002

New Australian research has found that colostrum significantly improved both performance and recovery in endurance runners and cyclists after 8 weeks of supplementation.

Colostrum is a pre-milk nutrient produced by mammalian female parents, including humans, during the initial stages of birth. As a supplement derived from cows, Colostrum is rich in growth and immune factors and has been found to assist in recovery.

One theory is that Colostrum works by boosting levels of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I).

A study at the University of South Australia examined the effect of colostrum supplementation with a concentrated bovine colostrum protein powder on plasma insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) concentrations, endurance running performance and recovery.

Thirty physically active males completed 8 weeks of running training while consuming 60g a day of the powder or a concentrated whey protein powder placebo.

IGF-I levels were measured prior to subjects performing two 30 minute treadmill running tests to exhaustion separated by 20 minutes of passive recovery at Weeks 0, 4 and 8.

While effective peak running speed (PRSE) increased more in the whey protein group by Week 4 (by about 4.2%), the colostrum group had increased speed significantly more by Week 8 (about 4.6%), resulting in a significantly faster PRSE.

While researchers found that supplementation with colostrum did not increase levels of IGF-I in the blood, they concluded that enhanced recovery led to as much as 5.2% improvement on performance after 8 weeks of supplementation.

In another study, researchers at the University of Queensland put 42 competitive cyclists on an eight-week program of colostrum supplementation (60g a day) with one group taking a whey protein (40g)-colostrum (20g) combination and another control group taking whey protein (60g).

After week eight, the colostrum-whey protein group improved their times the most, by an average of 158 seconds. The colostrum-only group improved by 134 seconds and the placebo by 37 seconds.

Researchers described the results as "small but significant".