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The benefits of colostrum to new born babies cannot be understated. Basically it provides two things, a super boosted food source to aid the baby's growth and a boost to the baby's immune system. Colostrum is the first milk or immune milk that all mammals produce in late pregnancy and in the first 72 hours after birth. This milk does not look like milk, it is yellowish and has a strong smell but it is very beneficial to the new born babies.

Colostrum is extremely high in carbohydrates, proteins, antibodies, contains all mammalian hemoglobulins, acts as a mild laxative but is also very low in fat. For a start it is a very concentrated form of food which provides maximum benefits in a low volume, this makes it much easier to digest for the new born baby. The mild laxative effect makes it easier for the baby to produce its first stool; this helps to remove the dried red blood cells that are produced in a baby during birth and reduces the risk of jaundice. The proteins and growth supplements are a necessary preparation because the rapid growth process that infants go through in the first weeks and months after birth.
When mammalian babies are first born they have no immune system, this is because they have been kept in a sterile environment for the previous nine months and need time to build up their own immune systems. The antibodies and hemoglobulins act like antibiotics to protect the baby until its immune system becomes active, generally within 24 hours of birth. The Colostrum produced within 24 hours of birth is particularly strong in hemoglobulins and antibodies but then the levels of these substances in the milk drops off dramatically.
The Colostrum produced within the first 24 hours after birth is very potent but over the next 48 hours it gradually becomes weaker, so that after 72 hours normal milk is produced.

Dietary supplements containing Colostrum are made from the milk produced by cows in the period after the first 24 hours after birth, between 24 and 72 hours after birth. Farmers have discovered that calf's need the first 24 hours of colostrum to boost their immune systems and prevent death but that after 24 hours they can be fed on artificial milk supplements without affecting their development. Instead they sell the 24 to 72 hour colostrum milk to makers of health supplements.
The main benefit advertised for colostrum supplements to adults seems to be the benefits for the immune system but those benefits are significantly reduced in the milk produced after the first 24 hours and most studies have shown that the benefits of Colostrum cease 4 or 5 days after birth. After that time their are no proven benefits for taking Colostrum.

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