Bee Pollen Benefits
Bee Pollen Granules Benefits. Did you know that bee pollen contains almost all of the human body’s nutrients to thrive?
That’s why the German Federal Board of Health has officially recognized it as a medicine.
Bee pollen is excellent for natural allergy relief and is responsible for raw honey’s many health benefits.
It’s rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins, lipids, fatty acids, enzymes, carotenoids, and bioflavonoids, making it an antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral agent that strengthens the capillaries, reduces inflammation, stimulates the immune system, and lowers cholesterol levels naturally.
Bee pollen contains more protein than any animal source and more amino acids than an equal weight of eggs or beef … and those are just some of the top bee pollen benefits.
What Is Bee Pollen and Bee Pollen Benefits?
Bees collect pollen from plant anthers, mix it with a small dose of the secretion from salivary glands or nectar, and place it in specific baskets (called corbiculae) situated on the tibia of their hind legs — called pollen loads.
After the pollen is collected, it’s brought to the hive, where it’s packed in honeycomb cells.
Then, the collected pollen’s surface is covered with a thin layer of honey and wax, creating “bee bread.”
Research shows that the bee bread undergoes anaerobic fermentation and is preserved by the arising lactic acid. The bee bread serves as the primary protein source for the bee colony.
According to the latest national data, one bee colony gives one to seven kilograms of pollen a year. Each day, the amount of pollen collected from one colony amounts to 50–250 grams.
There are individual devices or pollen traps used to collect pollen baskets as field bees return to their hives.
The bees must force their way through the traps to get into the hive, and they lose part of the pollen basket, sending them back out to collect more pollen.
The color of the pollen varies, ranging from bright yellow to black.
Bees usually collect pollen from the same plant, but they sometimes collect pollen from many different plant species.
The pollen grains depend on the plant species; they differ in shape, color, size, and weight.
Bee pollen is an apitherapeutic product because it contains groups of chemical compounds made by bees and used for medicinal purposes.
There are about 250 substances in its composition, including amino acids, lipids, vitamins, macro-and micronutrients, and flavonoids.
Nutrition Facts
The benefits of bee pollen come from the substance’s excellent nutrition content. Bee pollen nutrition facts are as follows:
- 30 percent digestible carbohydrates
- 26 percent sugars (mainly fructose and glucose)
- 23 percent protein (including 10 percent of essential amino acids)
- 5 percent lipids (including essential fatty acids)
- 2 percent phenolic compounds (including flavonoids)
- 1.6 percent of minerals (including calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, iron, copper, zinc, manganese, silicon, and selenium)
- 0.6 percent water-soluble vitamins and acids (including B1, B2, B6, and C)
- 0.1 percent fat-soluble vitamins (including vitamins A, E, and D)
Benefits
Eating bee pollen has numerous health benefits due to the range of antioxidants, amino acids, and micronutrients found in the pollen. It’s used around the world for medicinal and therapeutic purposes.
1. Reduces Inflammation
The anti-inflammatory activity of bee pollen has been compared to drugs, such as naproxen, analgin, phenylbutazone, and indomethacin.
Researchers suggest that it can be used in acute and chronic inflammatory conditions, initial degenerative conditions, and liver disease or toxicity.
A 2010 study published in Pharmaceutical Biology found that honeybee pollen displayed significant anti-inflammatory activities when given to mice with acetaminophen-induced liver necrosis.
Another study conducted in 2010 investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of bee pollen bulk, its water extract, and ethanol extract through carrageenan-induced paw edema in rats.
The results indicate the bulk mildly suppressed the paw edema while the water extract showed almost no inhibitory activity.
The ethanol extract showed potent anti-inflammatory activity, and researchers suggest that it can use as a dietary supplement and as a functional food.
2. Acts as an Antioxidant
Recent studies have revealed that enzymatic hydrolysates from bee pollen are beneficial for patients undergoing various diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension.
The antioxidant properties were measured in a 2005 study, and researchers found that it has remarkable antioxidant activity.
They witnessed high scavenging activities against active oxidative stress. Researchers even suggested that pollen’s inhibitory actions were similar to those found in fermented foods, such as natto, miso, cheese, and vinegar.
3. Protects Against Liver Toxicity
One 2013 study published in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine found that chestnut bee pollen protects hepatocytes from oxidative stress and promotes the healing of liver damage caused by toxicity.
Rats with carbon tetrachloride-induced liver damage were separated into two groups — one group took two different concentrations of chestnut bee pollen orally (200–400 milligrams per kilogram a day), and one group was given silibinin, a medication that contains flavonoids.
The researchers detected that both treatments reversed the liver damage, but silibinin caused significant weight loss and death due to severe diarrhea when given to rats.
These findings suggest that pollen is a safe alternative to silibinin in treating liver injuries and can be part of a liver cleanse.
4. Boosts the Immune System
Bee pollen has antimicrobial and antiviral properties. A 2014 study published in Food and Chemical Toxicology evaluated eight commercial bee pollen’s biological actives purchased from the market.
All of the samples exhibited antimicrobial activity. Staphylococcus aureus was the most sensitive to pollen, and candida glabrata was the most resistant.
Bee pollen may also be a natural allergy fighter. A 2008 study conducted in Japan investigated the effect of bee pollen on mast cell activation, which plays a central role in various allergic diseases.
The researchers performed in vivo and in vitro experiments and found that bee pollen has anti-allergic action because of its ability to inhibit mast cells’ activation, which plays an essential role in the early and late phases of allergic reactions.
5. Serves as a Dietary Supplement
Animal studies suggest that pollen can be used as a valuable dietary supplement. Studies have proved that mice and rats fed with pollen showed a higher vitamin C and magnesium content in the thymus, heart muscle, and skeletal muscles.
They also had a higher hemoglobin content and a more significant number of red blood cells after pollen consumption. Bee pollen has lengthened the life span of experimental animals.
An exciting study published in the Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition evaluated the effects of bee pollen on 40 New Zealand white rabbits.
The rabbits were equally divided among four groups that received the same commercial diet. Each group was given a water solution containing no pollen or 100, 200, or 300 milligrams of bee pollen per kilogram of body weight.
The female rabbits were mated with non-treated male rabbits from October to February and May to September.
For each season, 80 weaned rabbits originated from the control group’s females, and they were divided into the same four groups to begin treatment.
Bee pollen treatment for the female rabbits at 200 milligrams significantly increased body weight, conception rate, milk yield, and litter size.
It also improved the biochemical profiles of blood. The same dose of pollen also significantly increased baby rabbits’ growth and survival rate until weaning.
Similar pollen health benefits were displayed in a 1994 study that involved pregnant rats and fetal growth.
These animal studies suggest that bee pollen has a high nutritional value and works as a supplement for animals with nutritional deficiencies.
Researchers suggest that it can be helpful when given to children who have a lack of appetite or experience a developmental delay.
It may also help malnourished children and adults, especially before and after surgery, when recovering from an addiction to alcohol, or when they’re under physical or mental stress.
6. Relieves Menopausal Symptoms
A 2015 study conducted in Germany found that honey and bee pollen honey improved menopausal breast cancer patients’ anti-hormonal treatment complaints.
Over two-thirds of the patients who completed the study reported an improvement in their symptoms.
Researchers suggest that bee pollen and honey may be offered to women who have failed to respond to other alternatives to cope with postmenopausal symptoms.
They also note that the flavonoids found in honey and pollen have been found to prevent breast cancer, supporting the use of these products in women with menopause symptoms and problems with or without a history of breast cancer.
7. Helps Relieve Stress
Because of bee pollen nutrition facts and tonic properties, it improves blood supply to nervous tissue, boosting mental capacity and strengthening the nervous system that may be weakened by stress. That makes it one of the most effective natural stress relievers.
It may be beneficial for people with a lack of energy, especially the elderly. Even small doses of bee pollen over an extended period have shown to improve mood and physical endurance, thereby strengthening one’s desire to live.
It also serves as a local analgesic, giving it the ability to relieve pain caused by stress or injury.
8. Promotes Healing
Bee pollen can be used as a topical ointment to speed up the healing process, and it’s beneficial as a home remedy for burn relief.
The pollen includes kaempferol, which inhibits enzymes’ activity after a burn and decreases inflammatory reactions and swelling.
Research suggests that pollen helps improve blood circulation in the vessels, and it moistens the skin.
The anti-inflammatory and analgesic action of flavonoids in bee pollen helps relieve pain and prevent platelet aggregation.
Pollen also helps prevent infection because of its antimicrobial activity, allowing a wound or burn to heal quickly.
Because pollen is an excellent source of many vitamins and minerals, it can also help keep your skin looking younger and glowing.
It stimulates blood supply to all skin cells, helps detoxify the body, reduces the appearance of wrinkles, and speeds up the healing process.
Bee Pollen for Weight Loss?
Studies have shown that pollen helps recover muscle protein and energy metabolism in old rats exposed to severe food restriction, proving that it’s useful in preventing or rehabilitating malnutrition.
But what about weight loss? Is bee pollen a metabolism booster?
Pollen helps regulate hormones, and it possesses metabolic activity — containing amino acids that help increase your metabolism by dissolving fat cells in the body.
We also know that pollen contains an enormous amount of essential vitamins and minerals, helping nourish the body of people with poor eating habits.
It only takes a small amount to receive these nutrients, and an ounce of bee pollen is only about 90 calories.
Many manufacturers make bee pollen pills or supplements that claim to help you lose weight fast, but little scientific evidence proves this to be true.
The FDA had to recall Zi Xiu Tang bee pollen capsules because it found it contained undeclared sibutramine and phenolphthalein, weight-loss drugs that are no longer used in the U.S. After all, they may increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.
The FDA reported that it received more than 50 adverse event reports associated with the use of tainted bee pollen weight loss products from customers and health care providers.
Without scientific evidence, it’s hard to label bee pollen as the “miracle weight-loss product.” But we know that it can reduce inflammation, boost energy, and provide a range of essential vitamins and minerals.
It also has the power to support skin health and speed up the healing process, and for these reasons, pollen is a useful supplement.
How to Use
Buy bee pollen from a reputable company or local beekeeper that you trust.
Ensure that the pollen is free from pesticides and that the bee colonies are not treated with chemicals. You can find bee products like pollen in most health food stores and farmers’ markets, especially since it’s becoming more popular.
Many people are confused about how to eat bee pollen. Consuming bee pollen is easy. The most common way to use it is when it’s ground and mixed with foods.
Ground pollen can be mixed with honey, cottage cheese, or yogurt in a 1:1 to 1:4 ratio — this creates a mixed pollen solution that can be ingested throughout the day.
If you’re trying to combat a nutrient deficiency, allergies, inflammation, stress, or illness, take one teaspoon of mixed pollen three times a day.
Bee pollen granules are also available. They can be added to yogurt, cereal, and baked goods. Pellets can be blended to create ground pollen, which can be added to smoothies or sprinkled over a salad.
Pollen grains or granules can be added to warm water for two to three hours. They then crack and release their nutritional value.
This can also be done with milk, fruit, and vegetable juices. You can then drink the liquid or add it to a smoothie to get these excellent bee pollen benefits.
Because of bee pollen’s detoxifying properties, it makes a great addition to this Secret Detox Drink.
Risks and Side Effects
It’s safe for most people to take bee pollen by mouth for a 30- to 60-day period, depending on the dose. A lower dose can be consumed with a bee pollen mixture and is deemed safer.
The biggest safety concerns are bee pollen allergic reactions, which may be an issue for people who are allergic to pollen.
If you notice itching, swelling, shortness of breath, or light-headedness after consuming pollen, you may have bee allergies or sensitivity to bee products, so discontinue use until you’ve spoken to your health care provider.
There is some concern that bee pollen may stimulate the uterus and threaten pregnancy, which is why pregnant women should avoid using it following the healthcare provider’s guidance.
People on blood thinners, like warfarin, should also avoid eating bee pollen.
Final Thoughts
- The benefits of bee pollen are quite impressive due to its nutrition content, including vitamins, minerals, proteins, lipids, fatty acids, enzymes, carotenoids, and bioflavonoids.
- It has powerful antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties that strengthen the capillaries, reduce inflammation, stimulate the immune system, and naturally lower cholesterol levels.
- Use bee pollen to boost your nutrient intake naturally. Studies have shown that it’s useful in preventing and reversing malnourishment and poor nutrition.
- You can buy already ground pollen or granules. Add it in smoothies, yogurt, cottage cheese, cereal, baked goods, and salads. Or let the nutrients infuse in warm water and drink it for a boost of vitamins and minerals.
