In February, “Quiet Luxury Queen” Sofia Richie launched a signature “Sweet Cherry Smoothie” at a high-end organic grocery store in Santa Monica for $21. The star ingredient? Colostrum.
Colostrum, also known as “liquid gold” for its rich golden color and many potential health benefits, is the first milk produced by female mammals in the days immediately after giving birth. This nutrient-rich liquid is packed with antibodies and antioxidants that strengthen the newborn’s immune system.
But now bovine colostrum is attracting attention from the health industry as a health food, with the industry expected to be worth £1.76 billion in 2023, rising to $1.83 billion this year, according to an industry report cited by Forbes magazine.
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Thinning hair disappears
ARMRA Colostrum founder Dr. Sarah Rahal spent two years developing a pasteurization technique to grind the ingredient into a powder, preserving it in a “raw” state to preserve the nutrients. She claims the supplement helps with everything from digestion to muscle repair to hair growth. “My baldness has grown back after 20 years,” she told Forbes.
Claudia Lopez Loreda of The New York Times wrote that “experts say it’s not entirely clear how colostrum supplements improve intestinal problems, but some studies have shown that they may help ‘maintain the integrity of the gastrointestinal system’ and ease digestive problems.”
However, there is no “rigorous published data” to support claims that colostrum leads to skin regeneration, weight loss, or “reversal of age-related changes.” In the same paper, Dr Per Sungild also warned that taking supplements could “carry risks.” While colostrum helps establish normal gut flora in infants, “this may not be what healthy adults need.”
Dr Leeming told Vogue that while colostrum supplements are expensive, there are plenty of cheaper and “more effective” strategies you can implement to support your gut flora, such as “eating more omega-3s, which are found in polyphenol-rich foods, fermented foods, and oily fish”.
“Strengthened version of Jersey Cream”
Colostrum is also starting to appear on menus, including at Josh Overington’s restaurant Mize in North Yorkshire, where diners finish their meal with “bite-sized custard tarts” made with sweet cow’s colostrum. The chef told The Telegraph’s Tessa Allingham that the milk tastes like “Jersey cream on steroids” with a slight “grassy note.”
But as demand rises, it’s becoming harder to come by. Calves are given their first share, and typically require around three to four litres of water within the first six hours of birth.
Rebecca Mayhew, who sells unpasteurised colostrum from her grass-fed dairy farm, Old Hall Farm, in Norfolk, told The Post that supplies depend on the availability of her cows and that “there is often a waiting list”. Like supplements, this colostrum isn’t cheap – Mayhew’s unpasteurised colostrum, which she sells for £19.50 a litre, is “liquid gold”, she says.
