Are there any health benefits to adults drinking breast milk?

November 16, 2025 •

4 min read

Historically, breast milk has been used as a folk remedy for various ailments, but modern scientific consensus challenges its efficacy for adults. Many people wonder, are there any health benefits to adults drinking breast milk, or is it a misconception based on its potent effects for infants?

Quick Summary

Despite popular claims about immune-boosting and muscle-building effects, scientific evidence shows there are no proven health benefits for adults consuming breast milk. In contrast, purchasing it from unregulated online sources poses significant risks, including exposure to infectious diseases and bacterial contamination.

Key Points

No Proven Health Benefits: Scientific evidence does not support claims that healthy adults gain significant health benefits from drinking breast milk.
Significant Health Risks: Acquiring breast milk from unvetted online sources is highly dangerous due to potential transmission of infectious diseases like HIV and hepatitis.
Bacterial Contamination: Improper handling and storage of unregulated breast milk can lead to serious bacterial contamination, posing a risk of foodborne illness.
Nutritionally Inefficient: For adults, breast milk is less protein-dense than other options like cow's milk and lacks the nutritional balance required for adult needs.
Infant-Specific Components: Many beneficial compounds in breast milk, such as antibodies and certain carbohydrates, are tailored for an infant's digestive and immune systems and lose potency in an adult.
Therapeutic Potential Under Study: The real medical promise of breast milk lies in laboratory research isolating specific components for future therapeutic development, not in direct consumption.

The Scientific Reality: No Proven Benefits for Healthy Adults

For a newborn, human breast milk is an indispensable, perfectly tailored food source. It contains a complex mix of nutrients, hormones, and antibodies crucial for a baby's rapid growth and developing immune system. However, this specialized composition is not optimized for a fully developed adult body. A healthy adult's digestive system, particularly their higher stomach acidity, can break down many of the protective compounds, rendering them ineffective.

Why Infant-Specific Nutrients Don't Translate to Adult Health

Macronutrient Imbalance: The protein and fat content in breast milk is lower than in cow's milk and other common protein sources. For a bodybuilder seeking 'gains', as promoted in online forums, breast milk offers a surprisingly poor protein source compared to traditional options.
Bioactive Compound Degradation: While breast milk contains vital immune factors like lactoferrin and white blood cells for infants, many of these delicate compounds are degraded by an adult's digestive process. Furthermore, pasteurization or freezing, often necessary for stored donor milk, also reduces the potency of these factors.
Oligosaccharide Inefficiency: Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) act as prebiotics for an infant's developing gut microbiome. Adults already possess a mature and distinct gut microbiome, meaning the prebiotic effect of HMOs is likely minimal or non-existent.

The Alarming Risks of Acquiring Breast Milk

One of the most significant dangers for adults seeking breast milk is the unregulated market, particularly online. The Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) provides safe, screened, and pasteurized donor milk primarily for infants in medical need, but adults are typically ineligible. This forces individuals to rely on private online sales, which are fraught with peril.

Infectious Disease Transmission: Breast milk is a bodily fluid and can be a vector for serious infectious diseases. Unscreened donors could transmit pathogens such as HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis, and cytomegalovirus. Since many sellers are unaware of their own health status, buyers are taking a significant, often unknown, risk.
Bacterial Contamination: A study on breast milk purchased online found that a high percentage of samples contained detectable levels of bacteria, likely due to improper sterilization during pumping, storage, or transport. This can lead to foodborne illnesses and other infections.
Adulteration: Researchers have also found instances where unregulated breast milk has been mixed with other substances, such as cow's milk or infant formula, diluting its composition and further compromising its integrity.

The Adult Craze: Wellness Myth vs. Scientific Fact

Interest in adults consuming breast milk often stems from anecdotal claims and a misunderstanding of its components. Bodybuilders, for instance, tout it for muscle growth, despite its lower protein content compared to other milks. Others use it as a topical remedy for skin issues, though the evidence is inconsistent. The true potential of breast milk for adult medicine lies in laboratory research, where scientists are isolating and studying its specific components, like HMOs, for potential future therapeutic applications in a regulated, safe environment. This is a far cry from directly drinking unscreened milk from the black market.

Scientific Claims vs. Reality: Breast Milk for Adults


Aspect	Claim	Scientific Reality
Immune Boost	Packed with antibodies and immune factors to fight adult illness.	Many immune factors are degraded in the adult digestive tract, and pasteurization can reduce potency.
Muscle Growth	High in nutrients, making it ideal for bodybuilding.	Has lower protein content than cow's milk and is not an efficient source for muscle synthesis.
Improved Gut Health	Prebiotics (HMOs) will boost adult gut flora.	Adults have a mature microbiome, so HMOs have little to no measurable effect compared to infants.
Cancer Fighting	Anecdotal claims that it can fight cancer.	Research is preliminary, cell-based, and not proven in human trials. There is no evidence it can treat or prevent cancer in adults.
Purity	A 'clean' and natural superfood.	Raw, unregulated milk is a potential biohazard, containing harmful bacteria and communicable diseases.

Conclusion: More Risk Than Reward

While the composition of human breast milk is a marvel of nature perfectly suited for infant development, this does not translate into a miraculous wellness elixir for adults. The scientific community largely agrees that for healthy adults, the potential benefits are minimal to non-existent, and certainly not comparable to consuming a balanced diet. The practice is further complicated by the grave health risks associated with purchasing milk from unregulated online sources. For those interested in the therapeutic potential of breast milk components, the path forward is through clinical and laboratory research, not through unsanctioned consumption. A healthy and nutrient-rich diet remains the most effective and safest way for adults to achieve their wellness goals.

An Outbound Link for Further Reading

For more information on the risks of purchasing breast milk from informal networks, you can review this article: More than a lucrative liquid: The risks for adult consumers of human breast milk bought from the online market

Frequently Asked Questions

It is not safe for adults to drink breast milk purchased from unregulated online sources due to the significant risk of contracting infectious diseases, including HIV, hepatitis, and syphilis. Properly screened and pasteurized donor milk from a milk bank is safe but is reserved for medically fragile infants.

While breast milk contains immune factors that protect infants, many of these are broken down by an adult's mature digestive system. Any potential immune-boosting effects for healthy adults are likely minimal and have no robust scientific evidence to support them.

No, breast milk is not an effective supplement for muscle building. It contains less protein than cow's milk and is not nutritionally designed to meet the needs of adults looking for athletic gains.

Claims about adult health benefits are largely based on anecdotal evidence, historical folklore, and a misunderstanding of breast milk's nutritional profile. This information is not supported by scientific fact and is often spread on unregulated online forums.

Currently, direct consumption of breast milk is not a proven medical treatment for adults. However, researchers are studying specific components like Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) to potentially develop future therapies for various adult conditions, but this is still in the experimental stage.

Adults seeking improved health should focus on evidence-based strategies. A balanced diet, regular exercise, and high-quality, scientifically-backed supplements are safer and more effective alternatives than consuming breast milk.

A lactating mother with a surplus of milk can donate it to a non-profit human milk bank, where it will be properly screened and pasteurized to safely benefit medically fragile infants. This is the safest and most beneficial use for excess milk.