Milk: More marvelous every day

The wonders of milk have been known for centuries, and scientists continue to learn more about milk’s special properties. Some of the properties that the scientific community is researching now jive with time-tested advice on feeding colostrum to newborn calves. Researchers are studying properties of human colostrum and whether cows’ milk could be a source of those health-giving compounds in the future.

We’ve been told that feeding colostrum to calves does several  things: First, colostrum contains high levels of certain nutrients needed to jump-start newborns and also immunoglobulins that provide the calf immunity until it can generate its own antibodies. But, in addition, colostrum also acts as a coating for the calf’s digestive system, preventing ingested pathogenic bacteria from being absorbed.

Something similar happens in humans. A multi-disciplined team at the University of California-Davis is studying bioactive and structural elements of human milk. One of their most interesting discoveries has been that human milk contains large quantities of oligosaccharides — complex sugars — that neither the infant nor the mother can digest, according to a California Milk Advisory Board publication. The scientists wondered why such a compound exists in first milk from humans and what role it could play.

Looks like it could be the same mechanism of protection that has been observed in calves. The Davis team found bacteria that could live on milk oligosaccharides just as easily as simple glucose. Drilling into the bacteria’s genomics, the scientists learned that mammals and these specific bacteria have formed a beneficial partnership. Mothers provide the unique and selective food source to the bacteria and, in return, they protect the infant, human and bovine, from pathogens. 

According to the CMAB publication, the National Institutes of Health have funded clinical trials involving use of a combination of the oligosaccharides and the protective bacteria to assist with the health of premature infants in the neonatal unit of the UC-Davis Medical School.

For some reason, these complex sugars are not as abundant in cow’s milk as they are in human milk. But, some day, we may be isolating these special carbohydrates from cow’s milk and using them to save lives.