Study Finds Bovine Colostrum 3× More Effective Than Flu Vaccination in Preventing Flu Illness
Participants experienced ~60% fewer illness days and ~75% fewer flu-like episodes with bovine colostrum compared to flu vaccination.
As flu season intensifies and the media pushes so-called “super-flu” narratives—a manufactured term designed to increase tanking vaccine uptake and/or generate clicks—many people are actively seeking effective prevention strategies beyond failed flu shots, which recent real-world data show increase flu risk by 27%.
Nasal sprays and antiseptic gargles are already well-established, effective frontline defenses, but additional, overlooked options exist—and one of the most striking comes from a clinical study on bovine colostrum, the immune-rich “first milk” produced by cows after birth.
A clinical study published in Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/Hemostasis evaluated whether bovine colostrum could prevent influenza illness more effectively than seasonal flu vaccination. The investigators followed 144 healthy adults and 65 very high-risk cardiovascular patients during flu season, comparing four strategies: flu vaccination alone, bovine colostrum alone, colostrum plus vaccination, and no prophylaxis. Participants were prospectively monitored over 3 months for flu-like illness episodes, total days of illness, complications, hospitalizations, and death. The study measured real-world illness burden—how often people got sick and how long they stayed sick.
Across both healthy and high-risk populations, bovine colostrum consistently outperformed flu vaccination, reducing flu illness by approximately threefold.
Vaccinated Adults Had ~3× More Days of Flu Illness
Among healthy adults, those who received the flu vaccine alone experienced:
11.3 total days of flu-like illness over the season
By contrast, those receiving bovine colostrum experienced:
4.3–4.6 total illness days
That is a ~60% reduction in illness days, meaning vaccinated individuals were sick nearly three times longer than those using colostrum.
Notably, illness duration in the vaccine-only group was similar to—or worse than—no prophylaxis, while colostrum produced a clear protective effect.
Flu-Like Episodes Were Reduced by ~75% With Colostrum
Total flu-like illness episodes in healthy adults were:
57 episodes in the vaccine-only group
13–14 episodes in the colostrum groups
This represents a ~75% reduction in flu episodes with colostrum compared to vaccination alone.
Adding the flu shot to colostrum did not meaningfully improve outcomes, indicating that colostrum—not vaccination—was driving protection.
Colostrum Provides Broad, Strain-Independent Protection
Bovine colostrum is the nutrient- and immune-dense “first milk” produced by cows in the first days after giving birth. Its biological purpose is to transfer passive immunity and immune programming signals to the newborn—before the calf’s own immune system is fully developed. When consumed by humans, these same components can support innate and mucosal immune defenses, particularly in the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts.
Unlike flu vaccines, which rely on accurate prediction of specific viral strains, bovine colostrum provides broad, non-specific immune protection through a complex mixture of bioactive compounds, including:
Immunoglobulins (primarily IgG): Bind and neutralize a wide range of pathogens at mucosal surfaces, reducing viral attachment and entry.
Lactoferrin: A potent antiviral and antibacterial glycoprotein that inhibits viral replication, disrupts microbial membranes, and modulates inflammatory responses.
Cytokines and growth factors: Help regulate immune signaling, support epithelial barrier integrity, and promote balanced immune responses rather than narrow antibody targeting.
Antimicrobial peptides: Provide direct, non-specific defense against viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens.
Proline-rich polypeptides (PRPs): Known to modulate immune over- and under-activation, helping normalize immune responses.
Because these mechanisms are not strain-specific, colostrum’s protective effects do not depend on predicting which influenza variant will circulate in a given season. This may explain why colostrum performed consistently well in the study— while flu vaccination failed.
CONCLUSION
The authors themselves concluded:
Colostrum, both in healthy subjects and high-risk cardiovascular patients, is at least 3 times more effective than vaccination to prevent flu and is very cost-effective.
This conclusion was later corroborated in a second registry study, in which colostrum-based immunomodulators again outperformed flu vaccination, reducing flu episodes by ~40–50%, cutting illness duration by roughly half, and lowering costs by more than 2-fold, while vaccination performed no better than no prevention.
These results point to bovine colostrum as a powerful, underutilized immune intervention—one that outperformed flu vaccination in real-world illness prevention and merits urgent evaluation in larger trials.
Epidemiologist and Foundation Administrator, McCullough Foundation
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