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A growing mountain of evidence from clinical trials and scientific studies continually reaffirms the benefits of colostrum supplementation in treating gastrointestinal disorders and improving the function of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

From this research, we have learned that the perhaps the greatest benefit of colostrum supplementation lies in its ability to enhance the overall health and efficiency of the gut, and that enhanced gut efficiency can effectively control or resolve many gastrointestinal disorders. This is because a healthy gut can more efficiently transport nutrients throughout the body, and more effectively destroy harmful bacteria and other pathogens at their point of their entry, before they can proliferate or spread throughout the body.

Leaky Gut Syndrome

Colostrum is very effective at repairing damaged tissues in the intestines, directly impacting a particularly common gastrointestinal disorder called leaky gut syndrome. Caused by the chronic irritation and inflammation of the bowel lining, leaky gut syndrome is characterized by an increased permeability of the intestinal walls to large food molecules, viruses, bacteria, fungi, and toxins entering the gastrointestinal tract.

Leaky gut syndrome lies at the root of a long list of gastrointestinal disorders, immune disorders, and other illnesses'including mineral deficiencies, food allergies, autoimmune diseases, and weakened immunity. Colostrum supplementation can heal the intestinal lining and restore the immune system's ability to fight pathogens in the gut, directly at their point of entrance into the body.

By bringing resolution to leaky gut syndrome in this way, the toxic load on the body and liver is reduced, nutritional uptake is enhanced, and immune responses associated with food allergies are minimized and often disappear entirely. These positive changes help to bring resolution to many other conditions and gastrointestinal disorders as well, including irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, yeast infections, and Crohn's disease.

Ulcers, Gastritis, and Gastric Cancer

Milk and other dairy products have for a long time been used to relieve the painful symptoms associated with ulcers and other advanced gastrointestinal disorders, but the reasons behind their effectiveness are only recently being revealed. We now know that stomach ulcers are caused by a bacterial infection (specifically, the Helicobacter pylori bacterium), and that antibodies in colostrum and other dairy products may actively prevent Helicobacter pylori from adhering to the gut, inhibiting its colonization along the stomach wall.

In addition, other bactericidal agents may be present in dairy colostrum and milk preparations that directly impact H. pylori. During the last few years, several studies have been conducted using colostrum supplementation in the treatment of gastritis, a gastrointestinal disorder considered to be a precursor to the development of stomach ulcers. These studies identified a glycoprotein in colostrum that is also active in preventing Helicobacter pylori from attaching to the stomach wall.

The results of these studies are very promising, and current research continues to investigate colostrum's possible future role in the treatment of ulcers, gastritis, and gastric cancer.