A few compounds that I recently found which one can find in baby formulas enhanced with non-natural compounds are two elements…

• Casein Phosphopeptide
• Glycerol Monolaurate

Ever since I did research on the compound Colostrum and showed that this critical element found in human breast milk may help optimize baby and infant growth rate in the post “The Connection Between Colostrum, Growth, And Height (Important)” I have wondered what other critical elements in the natural human breast milk are critical for optimal growth in developing children.

These two new compounds seem to have the same eventual effects as the colostrum from a very quick first impression. I wanted to go a little deeper on the research of these two compounds to see what they have the potential to help growing children increase or at least optimize their growth potential.

With colostrum, I had list in the previous post that it had all the following important growth factors…

• – Interleukins
• – Cytokines
• – IGF-1
• – IGF-2
• – TGF-alpha
• – TGF- beta 1
• – TGF- beta 2
• – FGFs
• – VEGFs
• – Platelet Derived Growth Factors
• – granulocyte-macrophage-stimulating growth factor
• – Epidermal Growth Factors

This made the colostrum very likely to be a powerful growth stimulator. It might be possible that the Casein Phosphopeptide and Glycerol Monolaurate can function with Colostum in a mutually beneficial way to make endochondral ossification occur faster.

So let’s see what other internet sources say about Casein Phosphopeptide.

From ArlaFoodsIngredients.com…

Casein phosphopeptide (CPP) is proven to enhance mineral absorption from food and beverage products, improving consumers’ overall uptake of important minerals such as calcium.

A bioactive peptide produced during casein digestion, CPP acts by forming a complex with soluble calcium. This means more calcium is maintained in the small intestine, facilitating absorption.

Functional foods

When tested, CPP addition with a calcium supplement resulted in significantly increased calcium absorption. Research suggests that CPP acts in a similar way with other minerals, such as zinc. 
Studies have also shown that CPP is able to improve oral hygiene.

Analysis: 

So it seem that Casein Phosphopeptide helps increase the absorption of Calcium just like Vitamin D. Not only Calcium, it seems that Casein might help other mineral to be absorbed by the ingested person’s system.

From Wikipedia it seems that another name for Casein Phosphopeptide is Recaldent. From the Wikipedia article on Recaldent…

“…amorphous calcium phosphate, or CPP-ACP, is a milk-derived product that strengthens and remineralizes teeth and helps prevent dental caries (tooth decay). Casein phosphopeptides (CPP) from the major protein of milk have the ability to stabilize calcium, phosphate and fluoride ions as water soluble amorphous complexes that provide bioavailable calcium, phosphate and fluoride ions to the tooth…”

This compounds would sound like many of the ingredient one might find from a Internet Marketed Height Increase supplement or pill. The liquid version or powder form of calcium phosphate has been found in most grow taller pills I have researched. It would not surprise me if the calcium phosophate used was actually Casein Phosphopeptide. However most of the Internet Sold Grow Taller Supplements and Pills with the Calcium Phosphate is almost always marketed to children and developing people with open plates. Would the increased Calcium absorption ability of Casein actually then help children become slightly taller? Maybe.

From the Wikipedia article on Recaldent or Casein, it seems that this compound can actually heal or reverse cavities in teeth. So we can say that the compound is a bone growth or fracture healing compound. Somehow the Casein can replace the calcium and phosphate ions that are lost due to tooth decay leading to cavities in the early stage.

From the PubMed studies “Fluoride and casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate.” and “Increased remineralization of tooth enamel by milk containing added casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate.” and “Consumption of milk with added casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate remineralizes enamel subsurface lesions in situ.” we see that the Calcium Phosphate that is Casein does help teeth become remineralized and enamel sub-surfaces are greatly improved.

Conclusion:

There is a lot of supporting studies and evidence to show that for small cavities, the Casein can actually heal them and remineralize the fractured tooth. Teeth/ Oral health improves more than just using Flouride or Milk. The thing then to ask is whether Calcium Phosphate by itself can help make the process of endochondral ossification increase the length of bone faster. It would be the same thing as asking whether Vitamin D which does a similar function can help young developing children potentially grow taller and increase the growth rate.

At this point, I would say that for children who don’t get enough nutrition, food, or Vitamin D in their diet, like in India or poorer developed nations, the Casein can indeed help increase the rate of Calcium Absorption leading to greater bone lengthening while the child is still growing. Only in situations where kids are likely to have stunted growth from malnutrition would casein be effective in increasing the growth rate of children, but its effectiveness is indeed there.

So what about the Glycerol Monolaurate?

From Wikipedia, it seems that the compound Glycerol Monolaurate goes by many other names, including Monolaurin, glyceryl laurate or 1-Lauroyl-rac-glycerol. To make the compound, you need lauric acid and glycerol and the compound is an ester.

From wikipedia…

Uses

Monolaurin is most commonly used as a surfactant in cosmetics, such as deodorants. As a food additive it is also used as an emulsifier.

Occurrence

In the human body, lauric acid is converted into monolaurin. Monolaurin is found in coconut oil and human breast milk.

Pharmacology

Monolaurin has antibacterial and other antimicrobial effects in vitro. It may therefore be useful in the treatment or prevention of various infections, but its clinical usefulness has not been established.

Analysis:

From just a first glance at the compound it seem to be similar to the compound Quercetin which I have looked at before. The fact that it is used as an emulsifier and is put on the top of deodorants as a surfactant. From the citied study entitled “Coconut Oil – Ideal Fat next only to Mother’s Milk (Scanning Coconut’s Horoscope)” by B M Hegde it seems that the monolaurin can be found in abundance in coconut oil. The benefits are that it is anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal. As the writer B M Hegde writes in the article….

Little over 50% of coconut oil is medium chain fatty acid, Lauric acid and another 7 – 10% is a medium chain Capric acid. Lauric acid gets converted inside the human system into Monolaurins– the best fat that mother’s milk has..

Other than mother’s milk, monolaurins are found only in coconut oil. New born babies and infants depend on the monolaurins for their immune system development and their capacity to withstand any infection. In addition, coconut oil can be digested by the salivary lipase, getting absorbed very fast to give energy like carbohydrates. All other fats need the pancreatic lipase for digestion that the infants do not have. The best alternative food fat for the infant when mother’s milk is not available is coconut oil (in baby foods).

In additon, from PubMed study “Effect of glycerol monolaurate on bacterial growth and toxin production.” and “Modulation of immune cell proliferation by glycerol monolaurate.” and “The effect of glycerol monolaurate on growth of, and production of toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 and lipase by, Staphylococcus aureus.” we are finding that the Monolaurin has the ability to disrupt Staph infection and seem to boost immune cell proliferation.

So what does this mean for children who want to try out these compounds to increase their height?

The glyerol monlaurate has no ability to make endochondral ossification increase or make chondrocyte proliferate but it does have multiple abilities to decrease bacteria and infection in developing babies and infants. Since growth in humans is at the highest levels right after birth, during the 1-3 years, it would make sense that to help optimize growth potential and decrease any chances of stunted growth from infections and illness, any compound like Monolaurin which fights virus, bacteria, etc. which decreases longitudinal growth would help increase longitudinal growth.

This means that for children, the casein phosphopeptide and glyecrol monolaurate both have effects which would help children optimize their growth, whether it is from lack of nutrition or illness, respectively. The effects of these compounds would be most effective for younger children, especially infants, and for infants born in developing nations.