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Bee Pollen: 10 Proven Health Benefits & What It Is

Do you want smoother, younger skin? Do you want more vitality in your body? Are you willing to ‘makeover’ your health? Then bee pollen is what you should be looking at.

Would you like to know more about it? Read on!

What Is Bee Pollen?

Bees spend eight hours each day collecting nothing but pollen. Each bee instinctively picks the most robust pollen from thousands of flowers, which it then coats with its saliva. This is stored as balls on its hind legs. Bee pollen is a diverse nutrient storehouse, comprising amino acids, entire vitamin B complex spectrum, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and lipids (1). It takes the working bee an entire month to create a spoonful of bee pollen. So, why should we take it? This is why.

Why Is Bee Pollen Special?

Bee pollen is one of the most complete nutritional foods known to humans on the planet. Its nutritional value is incomparable with other foods for both its diversity as well as its easy availability. The amino acids in bee pollen, which are many, are ready for use by the human body. Even cheese, eggs, and meat, were not found to offer as many amino acids. Since ancient times, it was believed that a person can survive on bee pollen alone without deficiencies and even produce offspring.

Natural Is Best:

Bee pollen cannot be produced artificially. The bees have a secret, and they’re keeping it. They make bee pollen for storage in the hive, so that it can be used by the queen bee. It is a rich food and must not be confused with honeycombs or royal jelly.

Commercially available bee pollen is sourced from the bees’ hind legs and processed to crack the tough pollen covering. For this reason, bee pollen is highly beneficial to our health.

How To Have:

Bee pollen has a part sweet, part bitter taste. Nevertheless, one gets used to the taste over time. Commonly, the granules are sprinkled over waffles or pancakes or taken directly. Chewing them raw is the best way to have bee pollen. Still, mixing a spoonful of bee pollen with delicious smoothies or chocolate flavored drinks would set you for the day. Just remember never to boil or cook it. You can have 2 spoonfuls every day, offering you at least 20 amino acids. Though the amount of protein takes care of a fraction of the daily recommended intake, the quality makes for it.

Bee Pollen Benefits:

Let’s have a look at the wonderful health benefits of bee pollen!

1. Antioxidants:

Bee pollen gives you precious antioxidants that help fight inflammation. It enhances the body’s ability to turn against foreign infections, and also helps cell regeneration. Bee pollen’s potent combination as an antioxidant and antibacterial makes it a good alternate treatment method (2). It is also effective against asthma attacks, as few people have experienced a reduction in symptoms after having bee pollen.

2. Nourishes The Body:

With the diverse presence of vitamins and minerals, a single mouthful of bee pollen would have the ability to correct any minute deficiencies in the body. Systemic functions would correct themselves owing to the right nutrition, making you healthier. These nutrients include 28 minerals, 11 enzymes, 12 vitamins, 14 fatty acids, and 11 carbohydrates (3).

3. Cardiovascular Health:

Here comes an amazing health benefit of bee pollen. Bee pollen offers considerable quantities of rutin, which strengthens the cardiovascular system. Rutin is a bioflavonoid that helps strengthen capillaries and blood vessels, stabilizes cholesterol levels, and maintains healthy circulation (4). Bee pollen also prevents heart attack.

4. Enhances Fertility:

Taking bee pollen was known to boost fertility by stimulating the ovaries. It helped women conceive while giving them better nutrition. A study found that bee pollen maintained optimal maternal nutrition without harming the fetus (5). However, some have also claimed that women should not eat the pollen during pregnancy. It is prudent to consult a doctor regarding this.

5. Natural Aphrodisiac:

Bee pollen is popular for its aphrodisiac properties, enhancing the effect of various hormones. It is reported to have increased sexual desire, though such claims are yet to be verified scientifically.

6. Energy Boosting:

Bee pollen is also very popular for its ability to increase strength. It reportedly helps athletes and body builders recover faster from a workout, thereby naturally boosting performance. Strength and endurance increased with bee pollen, all at the cost of no side effects. Bee pollen has 50% carbohydrates and 35% protein, which offers instant energy any time.

7. Better Immunity:

The immunity system works to keep many seen and unseen dangers at bay. Bee pollen improves our immunity and gives it more power to fight the pathogens. This is helpful even when the immune system keeps the cancer cells under control. Reinforcing the immune system ensures no new diseases harm our health.

8. New Life To Skin:

Topical application of bee pollen on skin stimulates new skin growth and prevents premature aging. It promotes blood supply to skin cells, smoothens wrinkles, and brings new life to the skin. The nourishing protein serves to reverse aging, according to research (6). Besides new skin cells, ingestion of bee pollen also treats conditions like eczema and psoriasis.

9. Addiction Treatment:

Bee pollen has been used to control addictions and food cravings for its ability to control the appetite. It can suppress appetite in addicted and obese individuals by working directly on the brain’s impulse control centers. This works to reduce dependence on unhealthy food habits. Bee pollen also provides sufficient energy, thereby aiding in a balanced weight control (7).

10. Aids Digestion:

You can say goodbye to annoying digestive troubles with the wholesome bee pollen. The nourishing food has enzymes that aid the digestive processes. Bee pollen, with its antimicrobial activity, creates a healthy environment in the digestive system by eliminating unwanted pathogens. The granules are also used to treat urinary problems.

As we can see, bee pollen is unique in nature. It is quite the find by our ancestors, who took to worshipping bees for being ‘providers’ of such rich food. To this day, bee pollen is unparalleled. Apparently, someone created bee pollen in the laboratory with all its chemical components. However, when it was fed to the bees, they simply expired. Bee pollen is nature’s gift.

Now that you know all about bee pollen benefits, what are you waiting for? Share your feed back with us in the comments section below.