There have been headlines about bodybuilders buying breast milk on the internet, treating it like a magical muscle-growth supplement. It’s an eyebrow-raising trend – so let’s talk about what’s true, what’s myth, and the safety concerns.
The Trend: Some athletes and gym enthusiasts, influenced by anecdotes, have purchased breast milk (often online or via classified ads) believing that the hormones or nutrients in human milk can help build muscle mass or improve athletic performance. Breast milk can sell for $1–$4 per ounce on informal markets – far more expensive than cow’s milk – because of this perceived “edge.” There are also fringe claims like breast milk helping to fight cancer or boost adult immunity, which attract not just bodybuilders but some chronically ill individuals.
The Reality – Nutritional Profile: Breast milk is designed for babies, not bodybuilders. For an adult’s nutritional needs, breast milk is actually less protein-dense than typical adult foods. Human milk is about 87% water; the rest includes ~7% lactose (milk sugar), ~4% fat, and only ~1% protein. Compare that to cow’s milk (~3% protein) or a whey protein shake – breast milk is relatively low in protein and high in sugar (lactose). As one nutrition professor bluntly put it on a show about this trend, breast milk’s nutritional profile is “rather poor for athletes: low in protein, high in saturated fat, and very high in lactose”. It’s great for fueling a growing infant whose brain needs lactose and whose kidneys can’t handle too much protein – but for a grown man trying to gain muscle, breast milk offers no special muscle-building advantage. A pint of human milk has fewer calories and way less protein than the same pint of skim cow’s milk or a protein shake.
No Evidence of Performance Benefits: There is zero scientific evidence that drinking human breast milk improves adult athletic performance or muscle growth. The muscle gains from milk in babies come from the overall nutrition and hormones suited to infants. For an adult, the amount of beneficial hormones (like IGF-1, etc.) in a few ounces of breast milk is trivial compared to what an adult’s own body produces or what’s in typical bodybuilding supplements. Moreover, any small amounts of anabolic hormones in milk would likely be broken down by the adult digestive system and not have a direct effect. Experts, including pediatricians and nutritionists, have widely stated that there is no rational basis to think breast milk would pump up muscles in a developed adult. One doctor on ABC News famously said: “There is nothing specific in breast milk that will cause adults to gain muscle mass” – it’s basically like drinking a sweet, fatty milk.
Risks and Concerns: The far bigger issue with this trend is safety. Breast milk acquired outside of controlled channels can be unsafe:
- •Bacterial contamination: Studies of Internet-sourced breast milk found that a large proportion contained high bacterial counts – in fact, 74% of samples in one study had enough bacterial growth to raise concern, and some samples were contaminated with harmful bacteria like Salmonella. One researcher noted some of the milk was as “densely packed with bacteria as sewage”. This is likely due to poor collection, storage, or shipping practices. Babies have gotten sick from tainted donor milk bought online, and an adult drinking such milk isn’t immune to foodborne illness either.
- •Disease transmission: If the seller hasn’t been properly screened, the milk could carry viruses like HIV or hepatitis. The bodybuilder likely isn’t pasteurizing the milk (that would defeat the perceived purpose, as they want it “raw”), so they are taking a risk. The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly warns against informal sharing or purchasing of un-screened milk because of these infectious risks.
- •Adulteration and Fraud: There’s no guarantee that that expensive “breast milk” is 100% breast milk. A study in Pediatrics found that about 10% of milk samples bought online had been mixed with cow’s milk (likely to stretch volume and profit). A bodybuilder could be paying top dollar for something that’s not even pure. And if they have an undiagnosed dairy allergy, that’s dangerous.
- •Ethical issues: Milk banks often struggle to get enough donor milk for premature and medically fragile infants who truly need it. The idea of a healthy adult guzzling milk that could have gone to a preemie in the NICU raises ethical concerns. As one expert put it, with limited donor milk available, it’s not exactly ethical for adults to consume it when “there is not enough donor breast milk for babies in intensive care who desperately need it”. There’s also something to be said about exploiting mothers – some sellers might be doing it out of financial need and could be depriving their own infants or pushing themselves to pump excessively just to sell to bodybuilders.
- •Expense and practicality: From a purely practical standpoint, even if one did want to use breast milk for nutrition, it’s incredibly expensive and inefficient. To get, say, 20 grams of protein, an adult might need ~20 ounces of breast milk. That could cost $40+ if buying online, versus a $1 scoop of protein powder or a $2 chicken breast which provides the same or more protein. It’s not sustainable (and frankly, not palatable to chug that much human milk for most people).
Bottom line: Breast milk is not a miracle muscle drink. The hype is not backed by science. If anything, an athlete would be better off drinking pasteurized cow’s milk – it has more protein (plus rich in calcium and B12) and is dirt cheap. Or just stick to a balanced high-protein diet and proven supplements.
In fact, drinking someone else’s breast milk could be counterproductive for athletes. It’s high in lactose sugar which some adults can’t digest well (hello, lactose intolerance – many bodybuilders might experience gas or diarrhea from human milk just as they would from too much cow’s milk). And the fat in breast milk is largely saturated fat – not exactly the lean protein fuel athletes typically go for.
Safety first: If, despite all advice, someone is dead-set on consuming donor breast milk, they should treat it like raw, unpasteurized bodily fluid – which it is. Only consider milk from a known, tested source (for example, some bodybuilders get milk from a spouse or friend who had extra, which at least reduces infectious risk). But even then, recognize you’re essentially consuming infant food that won’t match your adult nutritional needs.
The consensus from medical experts is clear: there is no benefit for adults, and there are many risks. It’s mostly an internet-fueled fad. So, unless you’re a baby, save your money and stick to protein shakes and a good diet for your gains – leave the precious breast milk for the babies who truly need it.