Bovine colostrum is available in health food shops and as a sports food supplement and is rich in antibodies and growth factors, including IGF-1. A study titled, “Oral bovine colostrum supplementation does not increase circulating insulin-like growth factor-1 concentration in healthy adults: results from short- and long-term administration studies” was conducted by Glen Davison, Arwel W. Jones, Tania Marchbank & Raymond J. Playford to determine changes in plasma IGF-1 levels in subjects taking colostrum or placebo for 1 day, 4 weeks, and 12 weeks.The results were published in the European Journal of Nutrition in May of 2019.

Colostrum Use in Professional Athletes

Gastrointestinal symptoms including cramps, diarrhea, nausea, and bleeding are commonly reported by long-distance runners and athletes undertaking extreme endurance competitions and are likely due to a combination of reduced splanchnic blood flow, hormonal changes, altered gut permeability, and increased body temperature. These athletes are also susceptible to increased incidence of symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections, especially during periods of strenuous exercise training and immediately after competition.

Pharmacological options to reduce these problems are limited, particularly in competitive athletics, and, therefore, has created great interest in the use of natural products. One such product, that is already commercially available, is bovine colostrum. This is because “In adults, randomized clinical trials have shown beneficial effects of oral colostrum supplementation in reducing NSAID-induced and exercise-induced hyperpermeability and reducing the frequency of upper respiratory symptoms of athletes in training.”

Concerns from WADA

However, the world anti-doping agency (WADA) advises athletes against taking colostrum for fear of causing a rise in levels of IGF-1 in the circulation with resulting doping penalties. In addition, concerns have been raised that if circulatory IGF-1 is raised in response to colostrum supplementation, prolonged administration of colostrum might stimulate malignancy in distant organs such as prostate cancer which is known to commonly express IGF-1 receptors. Hence, the aforementioned study was initiated. 

The conclusion of this study only added to the previously known benefits of colostrum: the authors stated, “Ingestion of standard recommended doses of colostrum does not increase IGF-1 levels in healthy adults, providing additional support for the safety profile of colostrum ingestion.” This makes it especially beneficial to professional athletes. 

Overall Benefits of IGF-1 in Colostrum

Use of colostrum rather than a single recombinant peptide has the advantages of maintaining potential synergistic activity between the various growth factors within colostrum and that its formulation naturally protects its growth factor activity to reach more distal regions of the gut in an intact biologically active form.Colostrum may also have value as a sports nutritional supplement to reduce the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections during training and to reduce the increased gut permeability that occurs during heavy exercise.These findings, made my Davison et al. provide additional support for the safety profile of colostrum ingestion in populations that can benefit from the favorable effects of colostrum on gastrointestinal and respiratory health.

Reach out to TBR Labs if you have additional questions or see the study source for more information on the effects of IGF-1 in athletes.