(Un)Well (2020) s01e03 Episode Script

1
Breast milk is liquid gold.
Human milk is the first vaccine
for babies.
Hopefully by supplementing
with the breast milk,
I maintain as much muscle mass
as possible.
There are some adults
that are online buying milk.
Some of the samples had such
high bacterial concentrations,
closer to something like sewer water.
Breast milk is never going to be
an ethically grounded
nutrition source for an adult.
I'm buying this breast milk,
gonna put it in my shake, and drink it.
I've been drinking mother's milk
for about 20 years now.
Breast milk is complete nutrition.
Breast milk's impact
lasts a lifetime.
Wellness.
A global industry
worth trillions of dollars.
Does it bring health and healing?
Or are we falling victim
to false promises?
Are we really getting well?
This is why breast milk
is called liquid gold.
Colostrum.
It's just magical.
I ship my milk all over the United States.
Mexico, Canada,
and to Puerto Rico.
I have been donating my breast milk
for the last four and a half years.
I have donated over 250,000 ounces.
Breast milk.
It's the most perfect created thing
on this Earth.
Breast milk is priceless.
Isabella.
Come sit up at the island
and play with Play-Doh.
Okay, we're gonna make breakfast.
This one's soft too.
It is.
My husband's name is David,
and we have two beautiful girls,
Isabella and Sophia.
They are four and a half,
and two and a half.
Isabella really loves Mommy's milkies
in her cereal.
Sophia drinks about
40 to 50 ounces of milk per day,
double what an infant would need.
I use a lot of milk,
so that it keeps them fluffy.
Breast milk is incorporated
into the meal
just because
of the nutritional factors in it.
And besides the fact,
why use cow milk, if we've got
a fridge full of mother's milk.
You want Daddy's eggs?
Want some juice
with some Mommy milk.
Okay.
They taste like ice cream.
I have hyperlactation syndrome.
My body produces
well over the normal amounts
of breast milk.
My morning pump alone
can be between 70 and 80 ounces.
I do spend a lot of time with it.
About four to five hours per day
just pumping.
It's very time-consuming.
It affects how we how we live
our day-to-day life as a family,
um on outings, uh events.
When we travel,
we have to carry all the gear.
But after four years,
we've been able to organize family life
around it.
Did you put breast milk in this?
Yes.
First and foremost,
my breast milk is for my daughters.
After that, I mainly supply
premature infants,
or infants that have lost their mother
after childbirth,
or born via surrogacy, or adopted.
I will be adding it
to these breast milk storage bags.
You can do milk sharing mom to mom,
milk sharing through a milk bank,
or you could list it on online places,
like a Facebook marketplace.
So, if it's a 5-ounce bag,
I typically do like 5.1,
because they're trying to make certain
milestones or weight requirements.
Breast milk is a living substance.
There are many advantages.
You're less likely to get sick,
brain development,
gut health.
Mixing it just puts all of the goodness
back together.
Sometimes I'll ask her how much longer
will you keep doing this?
Maybe it is time to stop,
but if I wanted to stop pumping,
I will need to take medication
that is a prolactin blocker.
And so I continue on,
because my daughters still ask for it,
and they still love it,
and I still have it.
If she wants to continue
4, 5 more years,
I don't know how long, I'll support her
because it is definitely
part of Elisabeth's identity.
We really do get
all different kinds
of questions on this, uh page.
So, now that I have so much milk,
I'm also selling it.
This person is a male.
He pays $20 for an eight-ounce bag.
I personally have no problem
selling breast milk to adults.
There could be individuals that
say they want breast milk
for bodybuilding,
or that are looking for breast milk
for health reasons.
I think they are onto something.
Breast milk is incredible.
It is, in my opinion,
like, the most organic,
the most pure, naturally-made substance
for humans.
If I want to grow
and be the best that I can,
I'm gonna eat like a baby,
sleep like a baby,
and if drinking breast milk
is part of that
then that's definitely an edge
that I'm going to take advantage of.
I chase what they call "the pump."
Your arms just everything is just
engorged with blood,
and it's just, like,
your adrenaline's going.
I mean, you just you feel
amazing.
When you are, like, ripped,
people are like:
"Damn, you look like Mark Wahlberg,"
or "you look like Captain America."
"Damn right, I do."
You feel great, you feel awesome. It's
I I know it's, kind of, like, uh
narcissistic, but it's just kind of, like:
"Man, you know what? I do."
A few years ago,
I was looking for an edge that was more
natural sources of nourishment.
And I've heard about athletes
supplementing with breast milk.
Men will try almost
anything to build their bodies,
but there's a new craze
that may be too much to stomach.
Yes, breast milk.
Human breast milk.
Anything that gives you a step up,
increased muscle
you know, try new things.
Where would one go
to get breast milk?
The Internet.
Certainly not your everyday Craigslist ad.
Human breast milk for sale.
If you're gonna put something
in your protein shake besides water
use breast milk.
Human milk.
I was like
I guess it kind of made sense.
Hey, like they say, breast is best.
At the time, Melissa,
the mother of my kids, had extra milk.
So, I had a free supply of it,
and could just reach in the fridge,
you know, crack a cold one.
And I decided to put it in my shakes,
and kind of see what happened from there.
But.. when Melissa and I split up,
I wasn't really motivated
to go to the gym.
It was really hard on me.
Also, I lost my supply of breast milk.
And it was tough.
But
my children are, like, my motivators.
I want to be a positive role model
for my children,
for them to be proud of me.
This is my daughter's favorite pose.
The front double bicep.
I wanna be ripped again,
"Oh, get him a Band-Aid,
'cause he's cut."
JJ's, uh a unique individual.
He's had aspirations
of of competing in bodybuilding,
so we've had him on diets, workouts.
So, I've decided to start
supplementing with breast milk again
'cause I really wanted to get back there.
Breast milk did well for me in the past.
Why couldn't it do the same again?
So, what we're gonna do
is an overall assessment.
Weigh in, baby.
Not too bad.
Two-twenty-eight point six.
Nine point seven.
- No flexing, no cheating.
- I got it, I'm not trying.
My logic behind supplementing
with the breast milk is
to keep me from going catabolic,
like, losing muscle mass
while I'm trying to lose weight.
And it's more natural.
And with, like, anabolic steroids,
you don't know what's in it.
What's this new supplement
you're gonna be doing?
I am, uh, going to be
supplementing with breast milk.
I feel like it helped, you know,
get a little ripped.
I'm gonna stick to it again
and see what happens this time.
Where are you going to get
the breast milk?
Actually this girl, Tiffany,
reached out to me on Facebook
and she's donated
like, 600-something gallons
in the past 14 months.
So, she's got a good little bit extra.
So, she asked me if I wanted to buy some,
she would be my my pusher.
So, what do people think about it
when you told them you're doing that?
They think I'm insane.
So, you have some motivation
- to prove them wrong.
- Yeah.
All right, let's see how that breast milk
pans out in a couple weeks.
I don't think
there's any circumstance
where one could recommend
breast milk sharing.
Unless you have a lab in your kitchen,
you really can't test the milk yourself
and know that it's completely safe.
At Nationwide Children's,
we really wanted to look
at some of the risks for milk sharing
that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
had highlighted on their website.
Infectious disease
environmental contaminants.
In terms of buying milk online
we browsed through advertisements
that were posted online,
contacted the sellers,
and paid for it through PayPal,
and had it shipped to us.
We purchased 102 samples
that came from all over the country.
Cities, small towns
We cataloged everything about the milk.
We took pictures, checked the temperature.
We looked at the packaging.
Some of it was pristinely frozen
on dry ice
and packaged very neatly.
Some of the milk was leaking out
all over the box.
Dripping out of the box.
It's completely normal
for certain bacteria to be in breast milk.
Some of those bacteria are actually
really important
for the infant's gut to develop.
When we analyzed the milk,
we found that about three-quarters
of the samples
had pathogenic
or disease-causing bacteria.
In fact, some of the samples had such
high bacterial concentrations,
closer to something like sewer water.
That was really alarming.
We also found that three samples
had salmonella present.
We found that one in ten of our samples
actually had detectable amounts
of cow DNA in them,
pretty high concentrations of either
baby formula being added,
or cow's milk being added.
Most women could sell their milk
for maybe a dollar, two dollars an ounce,
but if you topped it off
with a little water or cow's milk,
you can boost the volume very cheaply
and gain a much bigger profit.
There are certainly some adults
that are online buying milk
for either fitness purposes,
other health reasons.
There really is very little evidence
that this is beneficial.
And also some of the same risks we saw,
and think about in terms of
what they pose to babies,
could also translate to adults.
When our studies were released
people were astounded
that this was going on at all,
that people were selling milk online.
Unfortunately, there aren't
a lot of alternatives for families
that are struggling to provide milk
for their baby.
And the availability of safe milk
is just not there.
That is very concerning.
So, it's 55.8.
I've been breastfeeding now
almost 18 months, as well as pumping
every three hours.
It's a struggle.
It's tiring.
I wanted to quit several times,
but I keep going.
I posted on my Facebook page
that I had an oversupply.
A lot of moms I give to,
I found on the Facebook website.
I give to a neighbor
an adopted baby,
another mom with a heart transplant
I lose more money giving milk away
than I do anything.
Sometimes I wonder if it's just cheaper
just to pump it and dump it
instead of paying for the supplies
that I need.
So, I was interested
in selling my breast milk
for some little bit of compensation,
because sometimes money does get tight
and to have a little bit extra income.
It's gonna come in handy
for the childcare.
When I started looking in to sell my milk,
I only found one person to sell it to,
which is JJ,
who is looking in to using breast milk
for muscle milk.
We agreed on 50 cents an ounce,
and I'm like: "score."
- How are you?
- Good.
Oh, thanks for making it out.
You're welcome.
Oh, look, we got bags.
Yours is much nicer than mine.
Yours looks like you actually have kids.
I just look like I'm carrying body parts.
I feel like we should whisper.
Go in an alley.
There's the cops.
This is nice to finally meet you.
We were texting back and forth
for a little bit.
I was like, well, who uses
other people's breast milk?
Everybody.
But
This is crazy.
Ever met someone in the coffee shop,
hustling your boob juice?
Well
You're the first one I sold it to, so
Okay, so, what is it, 50 cents an ounce?
- That what you said?
- Yeah.
I think I got enough.
So, what's that, 35 bucks?
Look, I'm ballin'. I'm gonna make it rain.
Thank you.
You're not counting
So, did I tell you, each bag is, like,
five to, like, seven ounces?
Some of them have nine.
Are these bags okay
if I put them in a microwave?
No, you can't. You can't do that.
- How am I gonna thaw it?
- Hot water.
Hot water?
Put it in a cup of hot water.
Or you can run hot water over it.
It's about 4:45
when my first alarm goes off.
After I do my shake, I go to the gym,
and then I work.
After work, I go back to the gym.
After, I do my post-workout shake.
I know people have things to say
about me supplementing with breast milk
just because breastfeeding in our culture
is kind of, like, a taboo thing.
"I'm buying this breast milk,
I'm gonna put it in my shake
and drink it."
I know that they're gonna say:
"Hold up what other weird stuff
are you doing?"
They think I'm a closet freak.
Knock knock.
Look at y'all!
Couple of my co-workers,
Mark and Bo,
they know I have been supplementing
with breast milk.
Mi casa, su casa.
Oh, gracias, señor.
Hannah and I have been together for
about eight months.
We met at work.
She has been one of my biggest
supporters.
- What've you been up to, man?
- Working a lot.
At work, it's just a field day,
like, constantly making jabs.
Does it do anything for ya?
Before when I did it, I think it did.
Which is why I'm willing
to start it up again.
As your friend
my only concern with you
doing this breast milk stuff
is I don't know if these places
you're getting it from
are adequately screened
for disease, 'cause it is a body fluid,
and if they don't store it properly,
you can get sick too.
What do you think, Hannah?
A little nerve-wracking that it was coming
from somebody else, but
he seems to trust the lady,
so as long as he trusts her,
I think it'll be fine.
I gotta watch out for you.
You're like a little brother.
Breast milk is really valuable
for babies,
and it's not particularly valuable
for athletes.
At the University of California Davis,
we've been working on milk
for over 25 years,
but I'd say we're a fraction
of a percentage
to understanding actually how it works.
As you study milk, one of the things
you realize is that
milk is remarkably, in essence, personal.
Each mother has a somewhat unique milk
for her particular infant.
And it's changing slightly
all the way through lactation,
appropriate to the stage of development
of her baby.
So, not only does this milk, for example,
guide the development,
maturation of the gut,
uh, transfer immunity
from the mother to the infant,
it transfers the flavors from her foods,
and babies acquire preferences
for the flavors
that their mothers are eating.
It's a remarkable idea.
Unfortunately, one of the consequences
of understanding milk better,
is we begin to think that it's appropriate
for a broader range of consumers.
It has such remarkable properties
for babies,
that it's not surprising
that people are confused.
But if you looked at human breast milk
as a food for an athlete,
it would actually rank rather poor.
It's conspicuously low in protein.
It's interestingly relatively high
in saturated fat.
It's very high in lactose.
Most athletes can't digest lactose.
So, it would be considered
by supermarket shelf labels
a high-sugar product.
Milk supports the growth and development
of the baby.
So, there are anabolic factors.
Most of those anabolic factors, however,
are rapidly digested and eliminated
in activity
by the mature digestive system
of of an adult.
So thinking that a factor in milk
that has a particular property in a baby
will translate and have the exact same
function in an adult is actually naive.
Uh milk does not work that way.
Breast milk is complete nutrition.
This is a four-ounce bottle
of mother's milk
from the milk bank.
Like most milk, the cream settles,
so you need to mix it up.
I've been drinking mother's milk
for about 20 years now.
I decided right at the beginning
that I really didn't want my life to be
wrapped up with cancer.
I wanted my life to be my life.
Mother's milk has an oily under-taste.
So, I I started, you know,
doing smoothies.
I've always been very healthy,
and I've eaten well,
and I've taken care of myself.
This is a graph of my PSA,
which is the prostate-specific antigen.
And my initial readings were down
in the middle of the normal range.
From zero to four.
And then in April of 1999,
my PSA turned out to be 5.4.
An alarming value,
because of the rate of increase.
I had my biopsy
a few months later in July
and those came back as
positive for cancer.
All the medical approaches
for dealing with prostate cancer
lead to significant side effects.
Impotence and incontinence,
and neither of those
were very pleasant prospects.
What?
I started looking on the web,
and there was a Discover magazine article
from June of that year
that talked about some research
that was being done in Sweden.
A graduate student there
named Anders Hakansson
had discovered by accident
that when he added human mother's milk
to cultures of cancer cells,
they all died.
I'm fascinated by breast milk.
It's a very complex fluid of molecules
that could do all kinds
of different things
in the body of an infant
or in an adult as well.
In 1994, as a PhD student,
I discovered the protein
we're working on now,
which we call HAMLET.
HAMLET stands for Human Alpha-lactalbumin
Made Lethal to Tumor cells.
We were interested to understand
which molecules in human milk
could protect against infection.
So, we divided the milk
into different fractions
to see which fraction
had activity against bacteria.
We found that when we added
one of these fractions,
the HAMLET protein
onto tumorous cancer cells
the tumorous cells died,
the bacteria died
but the healthy cells did not die.
We had something here
that actually killed cancer cells only,
and not killing healthy cells.
After something was published
about our research in Discover magazine,
the lab got a number of calls
from patients with cancer.
Howard Cohen contacted me
wondering if drinking human milk
would help with prostate cancer.
The only problem is that it is a protein,
and usually proteins are digested
in the gastrointestinal tract.
So, whether it would actually reach
the tumor uh out in the body somewhere,
and so on, we didn't know.
So, drinking milk may have
positive effects, or it may not.
It could be something to it, yeah.
I don't know.
What works in the test tube
doesn't necessarily work in the body.
But it wouldn't hurt to try it.
I found a friend.
She was nursing a six-month-old baby.
And so I started getting milk from her.
I was getting two to three ounces
of milk a day.
And a month after that,
I took my first PSA post-biopsy.
And I was amazed that it was down here,
and it was back down in the middle
of the normal range.
So I called my surgeon, and I said,
"I'm not going to do surgery right now."
"Well, you'll
you'll be back."
My PSA pretty much stayed there,
you know, with the normal fluctuations,
till the following August.
This peak is when my donor
weaned her baby,
and I no longer had mother's milk.
In a month, my PSA shot up to 3.8.
Almost doubled.
I needed a new milk donor, so we called
the director of the San Jose milk bank.
Breast milk is magical.
Human milk is the first vaccine
for babies.
When Howard called,
and said, you know,
what his condition was,
with prostate cancer,
"I think it'll work for me, too."
"Oh, my God, this is not right."
This this milk is for babies.
But then I met Anders.
The first time I met Pauline Sakamoto
was at the lactation consultant meeting
in Washington.
We started talking
about cancer patients and breast milk.
Anders was just delightful,
and just had all these studies to share,
that convinced me to say:
"You know what, I think this
is going to be safe."
"Okay,
if you can get a prescription."
So, I called two other doctors, they said:
"Yeah, looks like it's working."
And they both agreed
to give me a prescription.
He got a prescription
and he got his first
cooler-full of milk.
And a week later,
my PSA came down to 2.5,
and then a week after that, 2.3.
My cancers have been undetectable
for many years now.
Howard was really fastidious.
He has himself down as a
as a case study.
It's like the results are coming
before the scientific evidence.
But definitely he's convinced me
there is something there.
Howard's case was really interesting.
He wasn't on any active therapy.
So, milk appeared to be the only thing
that could have some kind of effect.
You have to stay.
Yet, it's just anecdotal.
It's one person.
It's not a clinical study in any way.
And it's, of course, difficult
to make a clinical study with breast milk,
because it's not something
you can easily make a drug of.
So, it's not something that, uh
Big Pharma would be very interested in,
to do a clinical study about.
Hi!
- Thank you. It's been a long time.
- I know, for sure.
There were times
that we had to turn him away,
because we want the pre-term babies
to get it first.
And then we've got the child in the NICU.
Alrighty.
- Perfect.
- There you go.
And then there's folks like Howard,
who are kind of like on the bottom.
I guess I will see you in a few months.
Okay, bye-bye.
Last year, we sent out
712,000 ounces of human milk.
Most of that goes to NICUs,
and hospitals.
So, we have enough milk,
we don't need to call Boston.
We service families from Hawaii,
to Alaska, to Idaho, to Maryland,
other families
outside of their local area.
We know there's a need.
The screening at our milk bank
is based on tissue banking requirements.
With our donors, we do blood testing.
HIV, HTLV one and two,
Hepatitis B and C,
and syphilis.
So, how big of a pre-term batch
are you gonna do?
Fifty, half and half.
What they're doing right now
is looking at the quality of the milk.
A certain number of these
are pre-term milk,
and you can see how creamy they are
and much more fat.
Whereas the more mature milk is,
you can see like this one would be
for mature
because the fat is only this large.
Once it's in the bottles,
then we will pasteurize the milk.
It clearly cleans out the bacteria
in the milk.
But it's not like mom's milk,
by any stretch of the imagination.
It's not like mom's.
But, at the same time,
even with all the processing
that we do on the milk,
a good portion of that protectiveness
in the milk is still intact.
If you think about the babies
that we serve in the hospital,
some of them are 21 weeks.
They're they're not even a pound.
We want to make sure the product we have
is safe for these kids.
We need in the NICUs about
eight million ounces in the United States.
Last year, all milk banks
in North America
sent out 5.7 million ounces.
So, if you think we should really
be doing eight million
and we're doing almost six million
we're still short.
There is not enough
donor breast milk
for babies in intensive care units
that desperately need it.
And so
it's not an ethically-grounded
nutritional source
for an adult.
I became interested in breast milk
because I come from
evolutionary anthropology field,
and yet it hasn't been a primary focus
of research until recently.
There's more research on tomatoes,
or erectile dysfunction,
or coffee,
than there is on the first food
a mammal is adapted to consume.
Mother's milk.
The deficit
in equitable information
has all sorts of ripple effects
in society.
We do not have the wide-scale
infrastructure and support
to deliver breast milk to all
the babies who vitally need it.
So, I'm not even interested
in having a discussion
about whether or not
it could be useful
for an athlete.
In the United States,
we are failing our mothers.
We're failing the babies, the families,
and frankly,
we're failing our entire society,
because we're compromising
the health and well-being
of our communities.
Breast milk is a lifesaver
for our baby.
It's helped her sleep well,
it's helped her be a happier baby.
Never really a question,
we we wanted kids.
Love you.
I always wanted to be a mom.
When we realized
biological kids were
a bigger hurdle
than we initially anticipated
we thought, let's put that
on the side for now,
and let's do whatever we have to do
to make this happen.
Adoption would be our first priority.
It was about a year-long process
from that point.
Two days before she was born,
we found out about this possibility.
Not even 24 hours,
it was about 18 hours,
"Hey, you were picked,"
"She's born, and come down,"
and: "So, she's yours."
Yeah, so big shift, for sure.
As a doula and a birth coach,
I have had um
you know, lots of experience with babies.
Are you all done?
Or you still want Yeah.
Yep, all right, sorry.
So, I know a lot of the components
of breast milk
that you can't find in formula
were really important.
Because I can't do that for her myself,
donated breast milk
was the closest thing I could do.
I posted on two different pages
on Facebook.
Human Milk for Human Babies,
and Mommy Masterminds.
So, this is the original post.
"Hey, mommas,
my husband and I adopted a baby girl
at the beginning of this month,
and our goal is to do
strictly donor milk."
It's really great, so many comments,
it's crazy.
"I'm happy for you
and your family. She's perfect."
I was amazed at the community
that I found.
So, a lot of the responses
that we've gotten on here,
I private-messaged them
to reach out to find out where they're at,
or they private-messaged me.
It was a lot more of a kind of, an
underground culture than I knew about.
This girl just had a baby.
She sounds like somebody
I could probably
- get a hold of pretty soon.
- Okay.
She's in Cleveland, though.
A bit of a drive,
but it wouldn't be bad.
Though I think breast milk banks
are amazing in their own way,
the reason why we didn't reach out
to a milk bank
was ease of accessibility.
We don't really have one here.
The other major thing for me was
um the pasteurization process
kind of, takes out a lot of the positive
elements of breast milk.
It's still beneficial, it's just,
if you have access to the real thing,
that was just our preference for her.
We don't buy it from anybody.
Some people try to sell it,
and that's where I get a little bit
like, this is a little questionable.
It makes me nervous when
somebody's motivation is not to just help.
I don't know.
I think I need to reach out to this girl.
She has a hundred ounces.
- Yeah, it'll keep in the freezer.
- Yeah.
In our society,
we're so individualistic,
that we are very suspicious
of each other, unfortunately,
and we've lost the benefit
of just being able to trust our community.
One of the biggest things I've learned,
at least me, from this process is, like,
breast milk donation is a link
between baby and community.
We just kinda trusted that
the benefit outweighed the risk.
The doctors agree
that she's healthy and happy,
and so we know it is working for her.
"I owe all of these
chunky thighs to breast milk."
That's what she says.
There's very complex, wonderful things
about breast milk,
and it's made specifically
for the human body.
I think the only reason
why people feel weird about it,
or even why it might feel weird
talking about it,
is because of culture.
In Mongolia
mothers with a good milk supply
are honored a lot.
Because breast milk is the best food,
better than any supplement.
Here, drink some Airag.
We have two kids.
My elder son, Arigbukh, is five years old.
My daughter's name is Iveel,
and she's six months old.
Mongolians try to breastfeed their kids
for as long as possible.
My husband was breastfed
until he turned eight.
Mongolians have a history
of respecting breast milk.
I had a lot of milk
when I had my first child.
I used to pump my breast milk a lot,
and my father-in-law used to drink it.
My dad had liver pain,
and it got much better.
Therefore, breast milk
is not only for baby and infant,
but for everyone.
It is really helpful and beneficial.
Such a divine food, I think.
You want some more Airag?
- Can we go out now?
- Yes, come get dressed.
Nowadays,
workplaces encourage mothers
to look after kids until the age of two.
They pay for social benefits, saying:
"Look after the baby, breastfeed,
raise him properly."
And so, we respect pregnant women
and breastfeeding mothers.
When I expose my boobs,
he comes running.
My child is so happy
In Mongolia, we can breastfeed
a baby wherever. It's not strange at all.
I start breastfeeding after their birth
and until they lose interest.
For example, my son breastfed
until he was 8, now he's 11.
People who were breastfed
until they were old, tend to be stronger,
for example, wrestlers.
I hope he'll become an Olympic champion.
Wrestlers are the most revered
athletes in Mongolia.
It is believed that
the very best wrestlers
were all breastfed until at least age six.
I felt like
I was born to do this sport.
I started to love wrestling
from fifth grade.
Now I train and prepare
for wrestling tournaments.
In 2016, I won
the Regional Wrestling Competition
that took place in my hometown.
Shall we move?
Our national sport
is traditional wrestling.
This sport is inherited
from our ancestors.
It's a harsh sport.
It truly reveals the masculine strength
of Mongolian men.
My mom told me I was still being breastfed
when I was in kindergarten.
In fact, I sometimes still use breast milk
as a supplement while I'm training.
For example, my sister used to pump
her excess breast milk
and leave it in the cup.
I would take it and drink it all.
For an athlete like me,
I think breast milk replenishes
all the energy, vitamins and minerals
I have excreted through my sweat.
It will help me stay strong
and win the National Naadam Tournament
one day.
I've been supplementing
with breast milk
for about two and a half months.
I've been drinking breast milk every day,
um, twice a day, anywhere between
8 to 16 ounces a day.
Throughout the process,
Hannah has been like a crutch.
She does everything.
Gets the meals ready for the next day,
make sure I have my snacks,
then she makes sure that I have my shakes.
It's hard to squeeze.
- Okay.
- Tag team.
It's actually normal now.
It doesn't really bother me.
It's a part of our daily routine.
I have noticed
a change in my energy levels
since I started supplementing.
I don't know if that's just psychological,
or if it's actually a benefit
of the breast milk.
I feel like something is working,
because I'm still going out to eat
with Hannah and the kids,
but I've lost some weight.
It's really hard for me to see changes,
because I see myself
in the mirror every day.
Turn again.
But I know that I'm making progress.
It's like a flip book, huh?
Look, I look like I'm pregnant.
Who is that?
That's you.
Who is that?
He goes to the gym twice a day.
He's up at 4:45 every morning,
and works until eight,
and then goes back to the gym
until 9, 9:30.
So, I'm proud of everything
that he's done.
You can see the difference that he's made.
Not as much to pinch as last time, huh?
We'll see, and we'll compare it.
Yeah? Good.
Down one
Oh, yeah, you're down big-time there.
Let's get your weight, man.
Down 11.6 pounds.
Great job.
- How about it?
- It's down, not up.
The loss that he's doing now
is really good.
So, when I was pinching him,
uh the millimeters were significantly
different in his bicep, and his triceps,
so I can start to see
some cuts coming in here,
and I can see some cuts coming in here
at the at the top of his bicep
to his shoulders.
He's actually lost body fat
in the quad area,
but when I measured his circumference,
it's stayed the same.
So, he has lost body fat in the legs,
but gained some muscle in there.
Maybe there was some vitamins
that he was not getting
a sufficient supply.
I would say the vitamins
from the breast milk
have really helped him.
It's more about my appearance
and how I feel,
instead of a number on a scale.
Look, we live with a bunch of clowns.
I think a good bit of my progress
has come from supplementing
with the breast milk.
Be careful.
I definitely would like
to keep incorporating it
into my diet and regimen, my training.
Let me see, Madie.
Let's try to juggle.
People said drinking breast milk
was crazy.
I think they do crazy things,
drinking, smoking.
It's incredible,
the things breast milk can do.
If there's any, even a minute
benefit from that
I I'm down.
I plan on supplementing with the milk
as long as I have a reliable source,
one that I feel comfortable with.
Because it's gonna help me
in the long run
and I feel like it's helping me
attain that goal,
that I'm able to be, like,
a positive role model for my children.
Five