This article was written by Jacquelin Magnay and appeared
in Magnay and the Melbourne Age on October 20 1998

Colostrum Transcript

This transcript was from a report on ABC TV Tonight aired
last week. The introductory video showed athletes jogging
on treadmills and Dr Buckley looking suitable studious in
laboratory settings. It also showed a carton being opened
that was labelled "Colostrum Powder 6x400 gms". The labels
on the tins were shown a couple of times and they showed,
in large lettering around the top - "High Performance
Powder" then in a smaller case "with natural advantage (TM)
concentrated colostrum protein powder" and the Brand name
(?) "Intact" - there did not seem to be any reference on
the label to the alleged flu prevention qualities.

Kerry O'Brien - According to folk lore there is no better
source of nourishment than mother's milk, particularly in
those first few days of a babies life. Now, modern science
has proven that mother's milk may also be the secret for
athletes seeking a winning edge. The University of South
Australia today released it's cutting edge research into
colostrum - a substance produced by breast feeding mothers.
The study has found athletes perform better, for longer,
with the help of a colostrum supplement, something
Australia's cycling squad and Australian Rules premiers
Adelaide are already trying. Rebecca Bailey reports.

Stephen Trigg (football) - It's something so simple and
something so natural.

Dr. John Buckley - It's not a drug and it could be helpful
in stopping athletes having to use drugs.

Ben Davis (Swimmer) - Aerobical ly I improved a fair bit and
I felt as though I could train a fair bit more.

Rebecca - It's been an age old quest, the pursuit of
athletic perfection. Many athletes would do and take
anything to win, and they have never been short of options.
But, now there is a new, legal, performance enhancer, and
it is as old, and natural, as life itself. The secret
formula is colostrum, or mother's milk. Produced by breast
feeding mammals just after giving birth, it builds up a
babies immunity and stimulates growth.

Dr. John Buckley - You mix it to taste and add a bit of
milk and flavouring.

Rebecca - Dr Jon Buckley is a physiologist at the
University of South Australia, specialising in sport and
performance. Today he released the result of his pioneering
colostrum trial, where athletes took colostrum milk from
dairy cows. The cow colostrum was pasteurised and made into
a powder, and participants sampled it for eight weeks.

Dr. John Buckley - What we were looking at was the
potential benefits of taking colostrum on excercise
performance and recovery. We had all of the subjects run on
the treadmill doing a progressive excercise test to
exhaustion.

Rebecca - Half the athletes in the study were given
colostrum, the others a protein supplement. Dr Buckley
found that over eight weeks those on the colostrum
recovered faster from heavy training and therefore were
able to train longer.

Dr. John Buckley - If you're taking colostrum then you'll
be able to recover better, between training sessions, train
harder at subsequent sessions, and therefore improve your
overall fitness and your performance.

Ben Davis - I thought I might have been. I got a bit
fitter, especially during the first four weeks, but really
I couldn't tell you how it made me feel. It didn't make me
feel any different.

Rebecca - Did you feel like your performance was changing
though?

Ben Davis - Yeah. Definitely, especially for the first four
weeks. I felt like I could do a lot more training. And I
lost a bit of body fat as well, which was good.

Dr. John Buckley - With this technique we weigh the subject
underwater to work out their body density.

Rebecca - Dr Buckley is also investigating the effect of
colostrum on growth. Early results show that mother's milk
is a natural growth stimulant.

Dr. John Buckley - There is a strong trend there for
greater increases in muscle mass and reductions in body fat
in the people who were on the colostrum.

Rebecca - Colostrum has long been recognised for it's
ability to build up the immune system. The ancient
Egyptians used it to fight infection. That's something the
AFL premiers Adelaide were keen to benefit from, with some
of the Crows getting back to mother's milk this season to
avoid catching the flu.

Rebecca - Was it seen to be a bit wussy to take something
like mother's milk?

Steven - No. it wasn't discussed at great length with them,
and it wasn't something that they thought they should be
taking with a teat or out of a bottle. It was just
something that was tried on.

Rebecca - While the Crows aren't giving colostrum credit
for their grand final win Steven Trigg believes more and
more football players will use it.

Steven Trigg - I think that clubs and players, if the
measurables come out as being positive, will almost
certainly look at it, fairly positively.

Rebecca - Like the Crows, Australia's cycling squad had
heard of colostrum's potential. More than half the
Australian team sampled colostrum for two months this year.
While coach, Charlie Walsh, vows the supplement protected
him and the team from illness, he says performance effects
aren't as clear.

Charlie Walsh - For me personally I thought it was probably
the best thing I've had ever for turning the flu around.
Ummmm in terms of the other...look I think it's probably
quite good in terms of trying to keep people healthy. In
terms of actual performance I don't have anything, at this
point in time that would suggest that it enhances
performance specifically.

Dr. Peter Barnes - (Australian Track Cycling Team Doctor):
This is yet another food supplement. It may improve the
health of the athlete which may help them perform better.
But to call it a performance enhancing drug at this stage
would be I think a gross exaggaration.

Rebecca - In fact, colostrum may even have wider
application helping people with illnesses like chronic
fatigue syndrome.

Dr. John Buckley - It probably won't cure the disease, but
if it relieves the symptoms it will give them a better
quality of life.

Rebecca - Meanwhile athletes will continue to trial
colostrum so they can train harder for longer and perform
better.

Charlie Walsh - If it's good for them and it keeps them
healthy well then if it's mother's milk well then
(laughing) it's probably something a little special.

Kerry O'Brien - You might like to try a little on your
wheeties in the mornings.