As far back as 2735 BC there were accounts of the health promoting effects of bee pollen. The Bible, Talmud, Torah, and Koran all praise the healing properties of bee pollen and other products of beehives. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, spoke of the healing power of bee pollen and prescribed it to patients.
For early humans pollen from beehives was considered a delicacy and often eaten with bee larvae and eggs.
1) Many athletes use bee pollen as an energy booster.
2) One grain of pollen that contains three cells can have between 100,000 and 5,000,000 pollen spores, and a single spore by itself is capable of reproducing an entire species.
3) Bee pollen contains every one of the 22 elements that make up the human system, and many more.
4) It has been said that bee pollen is the most complete natural nutrient that exists.
5) In addition to bee pollen having a reputation for boosting performance, it is also thought to promote a more rapid rate of recovery after periods of physical exertion.
6) Though not a proven claim, many people believe that bee pollen promotes weight loss by speeding the process by which sugar is converted into energy.
7) One experiment revealed that mice fed nothing but bee pollen were able to survive and produce healthy offspring.
8) Bee pollen is often used as a source of additional nutrition during pregnancy.
9) Bee pollen in its original form is difficult for the human body to digest.
10) Bee pollen has not been successfully duplicated.
Bees go from plant to plant collecting pollen. They know the difference between healthy and unhealthy granules and rarely pick up bad pollen. The pollen itself is a powder made in the stamens of flowers and plants and male DNA is carried to female plant parts in the pollen. After bees obtain pollen they mix it with nectar from the plants and their own saliva. This is the process that results in bee pollen.
In addition to claims that bee pollen helps us to lose weight, there is also evidence that bee pollen, as a rich nutrient mix, actually serves to promote weight gain. The final answer on which is the true result of bee pollen has not been delivered yet.
Though packed with nutrients, bee pollen is difficult to digest and must be processed after it is obtained. A popular device for obtaining bee pollen was to put a kind of wire mesh on the entrance to beehives. This served to scrape the bee pollen from worker bees when they came home with a batch of it to deliver.
Though known to be very nutritious, bee pollen itself is not a required nutrient with specific amounts individuals should take. Usually bee pollen is taken as a supplement as a matter of personal preference.
Copyright © Dennis Becker, 2004.
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