How much lactoferrin per day?
Every daily amount below comes from a published trial, with who took it and what it did.
Short answer
No official daily amount exists for lactoferrin. Adult trials testing it for a health problem have used 200 mg to 800 mg a day, and one safety study went up to 3,400 mg. The clearest good result came from pregnant women with anemia taking 100 mg twice a day. In the one trial that compared two doses, 400 mg did no better than 200 mg. The right amount for you depends on why you want to take it, so ask your doctor or pharmacist.
The FDA has set no Daily Value for lactoferrin, so there is no official amount to aim for. That's why a label marks it "Daily Value not established". What exists instead is a handful of trials, each of which picked its own dose. Here they are, with what each one found.
The amounts trials have used
| Who took it | Daily amount | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| 100 pregnant women with iron deficiency anemia, Italy, 2009 | 200 mg (100 mg twice a day) for 30 days | Hemoglobin rose about as much as with iron pills, with less stomach pain and constipation |
| 555 women with iron deficiency anemia who were not pregnant, Bangladesh, 2026 | 200 mg or 400 mg for 12 weeks | Both doses did worse than iron pills. Hemoglobin barely moved on either one |
| 157 healthy adults, Japan, 2023 | 200 mg for 12 weeks | Lower scores for breathing and whole-body symptoms than placebo. The maker funded it |
| 218 adults in hospital with moderate to severe COVID-19, Italy, 2023 | 800 mg | No difference from placebo in deaths, intensive care admissions or discharge |
| 66 healthy adults in a safety study, US, 2025 | 340 mg or 3,400 mg for 28 days | Safety measures stayed in normal ranges. The maker ran it |
Most of these trials used lactoferrin from cow's milk. The 2025 safety study mostly tested a recombinant human form made by yeast, with one group on the cow's milk kind.
More didn't do better
If you're tempted to double the dose on the bottle, the best test of that idea so far says it won't help. The 2026 trial in Bangladesh gave women with anemia either 200 mg or 400 mg a day, and compared both with an ordinary iron pill. After 12 weeks, hemoglobin (the iron-carrying protein in red blood cells) had barely changed on either lactoferrin dose. On the iron pill it rose by 1.1 g/dL. The authors concluded that lactoferrin shouldn't replace iron pills for women like the ones they studied.
That sits awkwardly beside the 2009 trial in pregnant women, where 200 mg a day did about as well as iron. The two trials studied different women in different places, and neither explains the other. A 2017 review of four pregnancy trials gives a further clue: the clear benefit came from a single trial in moderate anemia. The three trials in mild anemia found no clear difference.
The highest adult dose used for an illness, 800 mg a day in people in hospital with COVID-19, made no difference to how they did. It was well tolerated, and that was the good news.
The most anyone has taken in a study
In the 2025 safety study, healthy adults took up to 3.4 g a day, which is 3,400 mg, for four weeks. Blood tests and other safety checks stayed normal, and the recombinant form didn't raise antibodies against itself. The people who took the cow's milk kind did make more antibodies to it, although the study didn't link that to any harm.
That figure marks the most anyone has tested. It was 66 people for 28 days, and the company selling the product ran the study. It tells you nothing about whether that much does anything useful.
Babies are dosed by weight
Infant trials don't use a fixed amount. The largest one, in 2,203 very premature babies in UK hospitals, gave 150 mg per kilogram of body weight each day, capped at 300 mg. The babies who got lactoferrin had no fewer infections than those who got a sugar solution instead. If your question is about a child or a baby, take it to your pediatrician rather than scaling down an adult dose.
Checking the amount on your bottle
The number printed on the label may not match one capsule. Under FDA rules, a serving is the most the label tells you to take at one time. The heading can read "Amount Per 2 Capsules" in place of "Amount Per Serving". So look at the serving size line first, then divide if you need the amount per capsule.
If lactoferrin sits inside a named blend, the label only has to give the weight of the whole blend. You can't work out your daily amount from that. The guide to lactoferrin supplement labels covers the other parts of the panel.
Once you know how many milligrams you'd be taking, compare it with the table above. Then ask which row, if any, matches the reason you're taking it. If none does, your dose has no trial behind it for your purpose, whatever it says on the bottle.
Where this comes from
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dietary Supplement Labeling Guide: Chapter IV. Nutrition Labeling — question 4: a serving is the most the label recommends at one time; question 18: the amount heading can read per 2 tablets; question 9: no Daily Value for lactoferrin
- Nappi C, et al. Efficacy and tolerability of oral bovine lactoferrin compared to ferrous sulfate in pregnant women with iron deficiency anemia: a prospective controlled randomized study. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 2009;88(9):1031-5 — randomized trial, 100 pregnant women, 100 mg twice a day for 30 days
- Abu Hashim H, Foda O, Ghayaty E. Lactoferrin or ferrous salts for iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy: A meta-analysis of randomized trials. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 2017;219:45-52 — four trials, 600 women; the clear benefit came from one trial in moderate anemia
- Huda TM, et al. Bovine Lactoferrin Compared With Ferrous sulfate for Treating Iron-Deficiency Anemia in Bangladeshi Women-A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Nutr 2026;156(8):101672 — randomized trial, 555 women who were not pregnant: 200 mg and 400 mg a day both did worse than iron pills over 12 weeks
- Oda H, et al. Effects of Bovine Lactoferrin on the Maintenance of Respiratory and Systemic Physical Conditions in Healthy Adults-A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Nutrients 2023;15(18):3959 — 157 healthy adults, 200 mg a day for 12 weeks; funded by a lactoferrin maker, which employed five of the nine authors
- Matino E, et al. Effect of Lactoferrin on Clinical Outcomes of Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19: The LAC Randomized Clinical Trial. Nutrients 2023;15(5):1285 — 218 adults in hospital, 800 mg a day: no difference from placebo, and well tolerated
- Peterson RD, et al. A Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Trial to Assess the Effects of Lactoferrin at Two Doses vs. Active Control on Immunological and Safety Parameters in Healthy Adults. Int J Toxicol 2025;44(1):12-28 — 66 healthy adults for 28 days, up to 3.4 g a day; safety study run by the maker of the recombinant product
- ELFIN trial investigators group. Enteral lactoferrin supplementation for very preterm infants: a randomised placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 2019;393(10170):423-433 — 2,203 very preterm babies, 150 mg per kg a day: no fewer infections than placebo
This page is general information, not medical advice, and not a recommendation to take anything. It cannot interpret your test result. Lactoferrin supplements are made from cow's milk and are unsuitable if you have a milk protein allergy. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, giving anything to an infant, or being treated for a health condition, talk to a doctor or pharmacist first.