Lactoferrin, without the runaround.

What lactoferrin is, briefly

Lactoferrin is a protein. Your body makes it, and so do cows, which is where supplements come from. It turns up in milk, especially the first milk after birth, and in tears, saliva and the fluid lining your gut. It is also packed inside a type of white blood cell called a neutrophil.

Its main trick is grabbing iron and holding onto it very tightly. That matters in two completely different ways, which is why this site has two halves.

Because it lives inside white blood cells, lactoferrin shows up in your stool when those cells travel into your gut wall, which is what happens during inflammation. That is what a stool test is looking for. And because holding iron away from bacteria slows some of them down, lactoferrin has been sold as a supplement for decades, with results that range from reasonably supported to not supported at all.

What this site does

It answers the question at the top of the page, in the first paragraph, in plain words. Then it explains. Every health claim names the research it comes from, with a link you can follow, and where a study found nothing that gets said just as plainly. The sources for this page are listed at the bottom, and every page here has the same list.

Nothing is sold here. There are no affiliate links, so there is no reason for this site to talk you into anything.