You've read enough of my posts to know that my parents, particularly my dad, could be a little eccentric. One of his favorite hobbies was bee keeping. He had become obsessed with the art of keeping bees, making honey and all the other excitement that comes with keeping bees in the backyard. He actually believed, or perhaps he had proof, that a bee sting can help arthritis. I have no proof to corroborate his belief, but it worked for him. I grew up hearing that bee pollen was good for you, although we never ate it. I grew up hearing a lot about folk foods. Now, I have the chance to try them for myself and bee pollen has been at the top of the list. With the kids on break, we've had time to experiment. Yes, my family, my body - all of it is an experiment. We've tried bee propolis, raw honey and now pollen. (This is tame compared to what we've tried out!)
It can take one bee working eight hours a day for one month to gather 1 teaspoon of pollen pellets. This teaspoon contains over 2.5 billion grains of flower pollen full of micronutrients, trace elements, minerals and antioxidants. The pollen is for the young bees and is almost 40 percent protein. The pellets we humans eat, are actually crumbs that fall to the bottom of the tray in a hive. Almost half of its protein is in the form of free amino acids, which means easy assimilation at the cellular level. This highly available protein can contribute significantly to the body’s demand for protein.
Numerous studies have been done through out the years proving the clinical effectiveness of bee pollen in treating infection, cancer, cholesterol and longevity. Time after time, the control group who was taking the pollen ALWAYS improved!
A few benefits of bee pollen are:
Pollen is made up of 96 known nutrients.
It is a rich dietary source of zinc, calcium, magnesium and iron.
Provides increased intellectual capacity.
More amino acids than beef, eggs or cheese of equal weight.
Skin rejuvenation.
Weight regulation for your normal level. Bee pollen quickens metabolic responses. It accelerates thermogenesis (calorie-burning activity).
Here are a few notable quotes:
“Honeybee pollen is the richest source of vitamins found in Nature in a single food. Even if bee pollen had none of its other vital ingredients, it’s content of rutin alone would justify taking at least a teaspoon daily, if for no other reason than strengthening the capillaries. Pollen is extremely rich in rutin and may have the highest content of any source, plus it provides a high content of the nucleics RNA [ribonucleic acid] and DNA [deoxyribonucleic acid].” - Institute of Apiculture, Taranov, Russia
"Bee pollen contains an active anticancer element that has the power to slow the development of mammary tumors. Tumor growth increased in subjects in the control group not given it.” - Dr. William Robinson
“Bee pollen provides an increased resistance to infection. It is a giant germ killer in whose presence bacteria simply cannot exist.” - British scientist Dr. G.J. Binding
Many cultures around the world use bee pollen for extending life, increasing longevity, improving endurance, intestinal strength and building new blood. There is continued research that indicates the effectiveness of bee food and, for that matter, all of nature's food as the best medicine available.
As of April, 2010 the world's bee population has declined steadily since 2006. The world needs pollinators to produce our human food supply. Without the bees, plants don't pollinate and food doesn't grow. The main culprit seems to be use of pesticides. The article that explains this reasoning in detail is located here.
The more in touch we become with nature, the closer we come to understanding the truth of our existence.
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