>On the Autism list they talk a lot about bovine colostrum and how it can
>help. The manufacturer claims it is casein and lactose free. This would not
>be paleo, as isn't it dairy? But if it has no casein, would it be considered
>"beef" or what? anyway,some are mentioning great results.

I've seen colostrum capsules at the so-called "natural" food co-op
here, and have to wince at the obscenity of it: taking the first
nursing fluid from a cow, meant for a newborn calf's first hours,
and hawking it for profit. That's not to say that the rest of
a bovine's life cycle isn't totally subject to the whim of the
animal keeper. I suppose artificial insemination is just as bad.

Are there impartial studies showing its effectiveness? Is there
any meaningful measure of standardized potency of alleged
active ingredients? Does it work better taken with snake oil?

Another reason to support range-bred, range-fed meat animal
production whenever possible. Killing and eating prey animals
is in the Paleo WOL, but I'd suspect (don't start, Todd) that
nonhuman colostrum played no significant part in the diet
of Paleolithic humans... less so than "dairy" as normally
understood.