The last several years have witnessed a tremendous flood of interest in alternative therapies—especially those having a long history of use in different cultures throughout the world. In particular, people with chronic illnesses are increasingly drawn toward herbal remedies and natural dietary supplements like colostrum.

Many are often frustrated with the lack of major advancements in conventional pharmaceutical treatments, or with the harmful side effects these treatments entail. In looking for alternative treatments, they may find it comforting that colostrum or a particular herbal remedy has been used for thousands of years, and even further comforted by the fact that such treatments come from natural sources.

But there is a big difference between the goals of a herbal remedy and the goals of colostrum supplementation in treating diseases or illnesses. In order to understand this difference, it is useful to first look at how they differ from one another.

The main difference between a herbal remedy and colostrum is that herbal remedies are plant-based, while colostrum supplements are animal-based. While this difference may seem obvious at first, its implications may not be so readily apparent.

First, animal-based nutrients are in general more easily utilized in the body than their plant-based counterparts. This is especially true for colostrum, which is naturally balanced to enhance its digestibility and the assimilation of the nutrients within it. Although some herbal are also whole foods, their nutrients are not as readily utilized because they are not as easily digested.

Second, plants often have chemical defense mechanisms for fending off predators, and these can have adverse effects on certain people in the same way that pharmaceutical drugs can, or exhibit harmful interactions with other supplements and medications. In contrast, there have been no reports of allergic reactions or adverse effects from colostrum supplementation, and no incidence of harmful interactions with other supplements or drugs.

Herbal remedies and colostrum supplementation are also very different in how they work, both within the body and in conjunction with other supplements or medications being taken. A herbal remedy contains plants or plant parts that have been prepared for use in either curing an existing illness, or removing physical symptoms associated with illness.

They work by stimulating the body in various ways that have been shown to produce some desired affect. This means that, no matter how you look at it, a herbal remedy works with the body in the same way as a drug. A herbal remedy can therefore have side effects in certain individuals just as pharmaceutical drugs can, and it can exhibit harmful interactions with other drugs or dietary supplements in the same way that pharmaceutical drugs can.

Colostrum supplements work with the body and act on the body differently. Because the immune and growth factors contained in bovine colostrum are virtually identical to those already made by and used by the human body, they do not change how the body normally works.

The immune factors in colostrum do not change the way the immune system functions, but instead work to enhance its existing function. Similarly, growth factors in colostrum support cellular growth in the exact same way that body does, without affecting how the body does it.

In short, all of the components in colostrum are active in stimulating or supporting natural body processes without changing how these processes are conducted. In short, a colostrum supplement works very differently from the way a herbal remedy works, because many herbal remedies contain substances not naturally present in the body in very high concentrations.