Christine Bailey: Colostrum – a potent gut healer

Functional nutritionist and chef, Christine Bailey has been visiting the show for years. For 2016, she’s back in the Keynote Theatre outlining her nutrition strategies to restore gut health and encourage microbiome diversity. Here’s an exclusive preview of the session, plus her recipe for Matcha Superfood Bites from her new book The Gut Health Diet.

Our microbiome – particularly those of our gut, help regulate our overall health and wellbeing, and even influence the brain, neurological function, and behaviour. For people with autoimmune conditions and allergies paying attention to the health of our gut has been shown to be important and this is where colostrum can play a key role. There is now an increasingly amount of research to indicate that colostrum can help restore a leaky gut.

What is Colostrum?

Colostrum is the first milk from the mother cow 1-2 days after giving birth. This ‘first milk’ is mother nature’s wonder food for developing the microbiome in all mammals and can have a profound effect in shaping our gut and immune health. Colostrum provides an array of nutrients, immunoglobulins and signaling peptides that were uniquely designed to protect the newborn from infection, and to help train and shape the developing immune system. By consuming colostrum, you can help establish an array of beneficial bacteria in the digestive tract.

Bovine colostrum is not new; in India and in Ayurvedic medicine it has been widely recognised for its healing and therapeutic ability for thousands of years. Scandinavian countries have been making a delicious colostrum pudding and dessert. In the US it was originally used as an early antibiotic due to its strong anti-microbial and immune supporting properties.

So what makes colostrum so effective? Firstly, its packed with beneficial nutrients: colostrum contains immunoglobulins such as IgG, IgA, IgM; the immune modulating molecule lactoferrin; fat-soluble vitamins including retinol, tocopherols, and beta-carotene; water soluble vitamins including many B vitamins and a range of minerals including calcium, potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron, copper and manganese. But its also an excellent source of easy to digest protein too – rich in both essential and non-essential amino acids, growth factors and commensal bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium.

The immunoglobulins in colostrum are especially impressive at combatting gut infections, including H. pylori, E. coli and various parasites and amoeba. It may also protect the gut against damage from certain medications and reduce gut inflammation making it potentially beneficial for inflammatory bowel conditions. Other studies have shown its effectiveness in combating infectious diarrhoea. Lactoferrin is one of the main proteins in colostrum can penetrate the cell wall of bacteria, which allows an antimicrobial enzyme in gastric secretions calls lysozyme to then enter the cell and cause it to burst. Together, lactoferrin and lysozyme can destroy Candida albicans.

I regularly recommend colostrum powder in clinic for a wide range of conditions and particularly for gut healing. It is delicious added to drinks, desserts, snacks and dressings too. Try one of my recipes from the GUT HEALTH DIET: Recipes to Improve Digestive Health and Boost Wellbeing (Christine Bailey 2016, published by Nourish Books).

Matcha Superfood Bites

Antioxidant packed these little nuggets are ideal for healing the gut and lowering inflammation. Makes 10 -12 balls

115g /4oz ½ cup cashew nut butter
60g xylitol
1tsp matcha green tea powder
pinch of sea salt
2tbsp raw cacao powder to taste
60g melted cacao butter or coconut oil
1tbsp lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
30g colostrum powder
60g dried cherries or goji berries soaked in warm water for 15 min then drained
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Matcha green tea powder, lucuma powder or cacao powder for dusting

1. Place the xylitol in a blender and grind up very fine.
2. Place the cashew nut butter, xylitol, lemon juice and zest, matcha tea powder and melted cacao butter in a food processor and combine. Add the remaining ingredients and process to form a dough. Chill in the fridge for about 4 hours until firm. Alternatively place in a freezer for 30 minutes to firm up.
3. When the mixture is firm use a spoon to scoop out walnut size balls. Roll into balls and place on a sheet of baking parchment. Roll the truffles in a little matcha powder, cacao powder or lucuma. Store in the fridge until required.

See Christine Bailey at camexpo – Feeding our gut microbiota – dietary & nutrition strategies to restore gut health and encourage microbiome diversity (Sept 25, Keynote Theatre)

camexpo returns to Olympia, London, on 24-25 September 2016. To register your ticket, please visit www.camexpo.co.uk/register-to-visit-camexpo-2016 – and quote priority code CAMX524.