ColoWell Colostrum: It Is a Dairy Product. If You Avoid Milk, Skip It.

ColoWell Colostrum — $35.00, 60 capsules. One thing first, because the product name hides it completely.

Colostrum is milk

Colostrum is the first milk a mammal produces after giving birth. The colostrum in supplements is bovine — it comes from cows.

That makes this a dairy product. If you have a milk allergy, avoid it. If you are lactose intolerant, colostrum does contain lactose, though usually less than regular milk — how you tolerate it is individual, and starting with one capsule rather than three is the sensible way to find out. If you are vegan, this is not a vegan product.

None of that is on the front of the bottle, and "ColoWell Colostrum" tells a shopper nothing. So it goes at the top here.

The label also notes the facility may also process milk, soy, wheat, egg, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and crustacean shellfish. If you have a severe allergy to any of those, that statement is the relevant one.

What is in a capsule

Colostrum Powder (IgG 25%), Long Grain White Rice Flour (Organic), MCT Oil, Silicon Dioxide, L-Leucine, Vegetable Capsule (Cellulose).

The capsule shell is cellulose, so the shell itself is vegetarian — the colostrum inside is not.

What "500 mg, 25% IgG" means

IgG is immunoglobulin G, an antibody. It is the component of colostrum that most of the interest is about.

25% IgG means the colostrum powder is standardised so that a quarter of it by weight is IgG. On a 500 mg serving of colostrum powder that works out at roughly 125 mg of IgG.

Standardisation is a good sign — it means the IgG content is measured and consistent batch to batch, rather than whatever happened to be in that lot. Plenty of colostrum products do not state a percentage at all.

What it is presented as supporting, and where that stops

The product is presented as supporting natural immune defences, digestive wellness and gut lining integrity, and as containing growth factors.*

Being straight with you about the limits:

• Antibodies are proteins, and digestion breaks down proteins. How much intact IgG survives the stomach and does something downstream is genuinely debated, not settled. Anyone telling you colostrum capsules deliver cow antibodies into your bloodstream is going well past the evidence.
• "Growth factors" is not a muscle-building claim. It refers to compounds naturally present in colostrum. It does not mean this builds muscle, and the label does not claim it.
• It does not prevent, treat or shorten illness. Not colds, not flu, not anything. It is not an immune booster and we are not going to call it one.
• It does not treat leaky gut, IBS, or any diagnosed digestive condition.

How to take it

One capsule, one to three times daily, preferably with meals, or as directed by a healthcare professional. That range is unusually wide — start at one a day and see how you do before going higher, particularly given the lactose.

At three a day a bottle lasts 20 days; at one a day, 60.

Who should not take it

• Anyone with a milk or dairy allergy
• Vegans, and vegetarians who avoid animal-derived ingredients
• Anyone pregnant or nursing, under 18, or with a known medical condition, without asking a doctor
• Anyone who is immunocompromised — worth a specific conversation with your own clinician

There is also a powder version

We carry Colostrum Powder as well, if you would rather mix it than swallow capsules. Same dairy considerations apply — read that label on its own terms.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. All amounts quoted are taken from the product label.