10 Benefits of Bee Pollen

Bee pollen is the collected granules of flower pollen that fall off the legs of bees returning to the hive. It is sustainably collected meaning that enough is allowed to enter the hive so as to sustain the bee population, namely the feeding of juvenile bees. Studies of bee pollen have shown varying results with some citing no benefit to humans and others touting it as a superfood with scores of health advantages.

The only way to determine if bee pollen might be helpful to you is to try it yourself. However, it is important to avoid bee pollen if you are allergic to bees or honey as bee pollen will result in the same allergic affect. Also, high quality bee pollen is recommended so look for companies that advertise organic, sustainable bee farming practices. Talk to your physician or naturopathic doctor about these 10 benefits of bee pollen.

Food of the Gods

Ancient Greeks and Romans are documented as consuming bee pollen, called “ambrosia” which in Latin means food of the gods. In the 1970s, bee pollen became popular in America when professional athletes began giving testimonials of its energizing effects increasing their stamina. Since then a mass industry of bee pollen supplements and products containing bee pollen emerged.

Anti-Inflammatory

High in flavonoid anti-oxidants including lycopene, bee pollen has shown some anti-inflammatory results.

A 2010 Japanese study posted on BioMedCentral concluded that,

“Some flavonoids included in bee pollen may partly participate in some of the anti-inflammatory action. The bee pollen would be beneficial not only as a dietary supplement but also as a functional food.”

In addition, a 2012 Venezuelan study published in Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutrición supports this anti-inflammatory evidence stating,

“Bee pollen has been reported to show antioxidant and radical scavenging activities; contributing to anti-inflammatory and gastro-protective properties. The results presented in this work suggest that the ethanol extract of bee pollen show a potent antioxidant activity, comparable to human plasma, probably due to total polyphenol content of bee pollen.”

Immune Booster

Boosting your immune system could be a smart move especially when confronted by so many external pathogens. Taking a daily teaspoon of bee pollen could enhance your ability to fight off things like bacterium that can cause a wide range of infections.

The Center for New Medicine describes bee pollen’s effects on the immune system,

“It reinforces the immune system as a natural antibacterial product which protects against the bacteria Streptococcus. This strain has been shown to be inhibited in the presence of pollen.”

Allergies

A 2009 study by researchers from the Juntendo University School of Medicine in Japan found that mast cells, which assist in the production of histamines, were reduced when bee pollen was taken. Histamines trigger inflammatory responses such as itching, runny nose, sneezing and coughing.

Some results of this study as reported by the Journal of Allergy stated that,

“74% of hay fever patients experienced an average 75% improvement in symptoms when supplemented orally with bee pollen. 17.8% of those with hay fever and 33.3% of asthma patients experienced marked improvement with oral bee pollen supplements.”

It should be noted that if bee pollen is used to combat allergies a local source should be used. This bee pollen will contain compounds derived from nearby allergy causing flora which may quell allergies. Like cures like.

Wound Microbial Killer

Honey has been shown to possess many healing properties but few have studied how ingesting or  applying bee pollen affects the body. It turns out that the highly concentrated antimicrobial properties of bee pollen may now be applicable to wound and burn healing.

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Volume 2015 (2015) Article ID 297425 reports,

“…the equally important fact is that pollen has a strong anti-inflammatory effect, shortens the healing time, decreases the discomfort of both the duration period and the intensity of ailments, and is definitely less costly.The conducted studies prove that the ointment with bee pollen extract has an antimicrobial activity regarding the bacterial flora of post-burn wounds.”

A Few More

There are many other claims of the health benefits of bee pollen. Some come from small studies and others are centuries old observational theories.

Other bee pollen benefits include:

• Hair, skin and nail enhancement
• Liver tonic
• Gastrointestinal health
• Hormonal health
• Cardiovascular health
• Prostate health

These 10 benefits of bee pollen show the profound impact this small insect may have on your overall health.