Habit stacking, the idea of pairing a new habit you want to form with an existing habit you already do, is really important to me. When I’m on the treadmill, I listen to an informative podcast. When I make my post-workout smoothie, I add a scoop of collagen powder; and when I’m holding off on my morning coffee, I instead drink the ARMRA colostrum instead.
It all started when I found out how detrimental drinking coffee first thing can be. “Coffee contains caffeine, which is a natural stimulant,” nutritionist Mugdha Pradhan, founder of iThrive, previously told Vogue. “This means it can boost your metabolism by increasing the body’s heart rate and energy expenditure. That’s why drinking coffee in the morning, about 90 minutes after waking up, works well, because it syncs up with the body’s natural cortisol rhythm.” Excess stimulation aside, I found that I’d be more likely to be jittery or have an upset stomach if I ate or drank nothing before my cup o’ joe. So, I started to train myself to indulge in something else first. A cup or two of water, according to a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in 2020, works wonders to improve working memory and boost your mood. Wanting something a bit tastier, I then started adding a squeeze of half a lemon, which is known to “help kick-start the digestion process in the morning,” per nutritionist Laura Parada, director of Slow Life House. Lemon water stuck around for a while, and was certainly effective, at some point I swapped it for a greens powder (Athletic Greens’s AG1 to be exact)—a habit I halted the moment I tested the ARMRA colostrum.
It was my colleague Laura Jackson, Vogue’s shopping writer, who put me onto it. Always in the know on all things wellness, she mentioned she’d really been liking it after discovering it on Instagram. “I’m not necessarily a supplements person and I really gravitated towards all the things it promotes,” she tells me. “My sister also ordered it at the same time, and we both were like ‘Oh wow, I haven’t gotten sick in a long time, my digestion feels better. My skin, nails and hair feel stronger.’” Eager to put these claims to the test myself, I called in a few months’ worth of samples and started my own trial. Ahead, everything you need to know about colostrum; plus, my experience after taking it consistently for six months.
In This Story
ARMRA Colostrum
- Why We Love It: A bovine-derived colostrum supplement packed with 400+ bioactive nutrients (from regenerative peptides and growth factors to biotin, zinc, and iron), ARMRA is a Vogue editor-favorite for its well-rounded mind and body benefits. By taking one scoop per day, available in a handful of flavored and unflavored options, one can experience an improvement in immunity, gut health, mood, skin, and hair conditions with consistent use.
- Key Ingredients: Proprietary ARMRA Colostrum Concentrate (Bovine)
- Best For: Gut health, digestion, immune support, elevated mood, improved skin and hair
- Flavors: Unflavored, Sungold Apricot, Vine Watermelon, Blood Orange
- Servings: 120
What is colostrum?
For those unfamiliar, board-certified dermatologist Dr. Blair Murphy-Rose explains that “colostrum is the first form of milk produced by the mammary glands of humans and other mammals immediately following the delivery of a newborn.” Rich in antibodies and antioxidants (like growth factors and other bioactive compounds), it acts as a natural antibiotic that protects newborns from environmental germs and infections. “While it’s essential for newborns, high-quality bovine colostrum has been studied for its immune-boosting, anti-inflammatory, and regenerative effects in adults,” nurse practitioner Dr. Liliana Lopez adds. “It acts like a blueprint for resilience, helping the body defend itself while enhancing skin vitality, muscle recovery, and overall wellness.”
How is ARMRA colostrum derived?
ARMRA brings these properties to the masses via bovine colostrum concentrate sourced from family farms in the U.S. “ARMRA upholds a commitment to calf-first sourcing,” Dr. Sarah Rahal, double board-certified pediatric neurologist, founder and CEO of ARMRA says. “This means ARMRA only collects overflow colostrum, the surplus remaining after the calves are fully fed and receive all the vital nutrients they need. Typically, this surplus is discarded as an industry waste product; instead, ARMRA upcycles it to ensure the calves’ needs come first and no colostrum goes to waste.” The colostrum is turned into a loose powder, designed to be mixed and ingested with water or your favorite liquid. (FYI, Murphy-Rose notes that “colostrum supplements are generally considered safe for most people, but those with dairy allergies should avoid them” as this is bovine-derived.)
What are the benefits of colostrum?
The benefits of colostrum lie in its nutrient-rich composition, including protein, fat, sugar, white blood cells, immunoglobulins, lactoferrin, micronutrients, and vitamins A, C, E, and B, per Murphy-Rose. “Colostrum has been found to strengthen the immune system, help restore gut health, and accelerate cellular repair,” Lopez lists. “The natural growth factors in colostrum support collagen production and skin elasticity, making it a powerful tool for anti-aging. Many athletes use it to reduce inflammation and enhance muscle repair. It also has been found to have gut-healing and immune-supporting properties.”
“ARMRA Colostrum leverages proprietary Cold-Chain BioPotent™ Pasteurization Technology to ensure colostrum’s 400+ bioactive nutrients (like regenerative peptides, whole food prebiotics, tissue growth factors, adaptogens, trace minerals, vitamins, antibodies, immunoglobulins, antioxidants, and bioactive compounds) remain wholly bioavailable, delivering a bovine colostrum that’s uniquely optimized for human health,” Rahal notes. Anyone taking it can expect to see an improvement in gut health and digestion, immunity, sleep, mood, focus, energy, skin, hair, and metabolism just by taking it daily.
My Experience With ARMRA Colostrum
For the most part, I’d say that my experience parallels Jackson’s. In comparing the benefits we’ve both noticed, we agree that improved immunity and digestion are the biggest draw to ARMRA. On the former, I tell all my friends and colleagues who ask me about the supplement that I literally never get sick anymore—a very important point given I usually get caught up with a terrible cold throughout the frigid, germ-prone New York City winter. But this year, nothing. (Fingers crossed!). Jackson agrees, “I’ve been on the verge of sickness several times throughout this season, and it never fully became a full flu or full cold, and I really do credit some of that to the colostrum,” she says. When I asked our health experts about this, Murphy-Rose said that its immune-supporting components (like immunoglobulins and gut protective properties) could theoretically help to reduce the frequency of infections. Lopez says that this is one of the biggest reasons people turn to colostrum—cosigning how it supports immune resilience and strengthened gut lining. “People report fewer colds, faster recovery, and relief from seasonal allergies when taking colostrum consistently,” she says. [To be clear, Rahal emphasizes that “ARMRA Colostrum is a whole food, not a drug, so does not purport to treat, cure, or prevent any diseases.”]
