What is bee pollen?
Bee pollen is the male reproductive part of a flowering plant. Pollen is a Latin word which means fine powder. For centuries, it has been considered a superfood with a high nutritional profile.
It contains amino acids, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. It is considered a natural medicine because of the enzymes, co-enzymes, antibiotics, steroids, carotenoids, and flavonoids contained in it.
Its nutritional value, especially the phenolic content, varies with the floral species, season and region of harvest, soil nature, and behavior of bees. For instance, clover pollen has a high antioxidant potential (phenolic compounds) with high-protein and low-fat content. Australia, Argentina, Brazil, China, Spain, and Vietnam are the leading producers of good-quality bee pollen.
what factors you need to consider before buying bee pollen?
Bee pollen is available as pills, granules, powder, liquids, tonics, and candy bars. It is recommended to pack and sell them soon after the collection to ensure freshness. Pollen requires strict moisture control during packaging as prolonged exposure to air promotes the growth of aflatoxin produced by fungi aspergillus.
Ensure the container is airtight and check the manufacturing date before buying it. The bee pollen should be consumed within 3-4 weeks after opening the container. Discard the grain if they become moist or shows signs of mold.
Also, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, China, Spain, and Vietnam are the leading producers of good-quality bee pollen. So, prefer buying bee pollen sourced from these countries.
History of bee pollen
Back then, bee pollens were used in medicines in Greece, China, and Egypt. The Egyptians considered pollen as “a life-giving dust.” The bee pollen contains flower, pollen with honeybee secretions and nectar.
What are the benefits of bee pollen?
Bee pollen is used as a supplement and for treating various diseases due to its wide range of constituents with healing properties.
Pollen has anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant, anti-bacterial, antiallergenic, and chemo-preventive properties. The flavonoids and carotenoids in bee pollen protect scavenge the free radicals and give protection against heart and liver disease.
The Pharmacopoeia Committee of China has recognized bee pollen as a healthy food. The bee pollen delays aging, improves heart and prostate health, increases immunity, flourishes gut bacteria, and protects against fluoride toxicity. It also lowers blood pressure, increases hemoglobin, and is helpful in patients with anemia. Iron and B12 in bee pollen aid in new red blood cells formation. Furthermore, the bee pollen is nutritionally superior to dry legumes because of its diverse fat, amino acid, and mineral content (calcium, magnesium, iron, and phosphorus).
Several animal studies reveal that the amino acids in bee pollen regenerate liver cells, increase blood albumin, and eliminate the symptoms of malnutrition. It also lowers blood glucose levels and may be helpful in diabetes. Furthermore, it reduces the calcium and phosphate levels in urine and protects kidneys from stone formation. Lastly, it protects against fluoride toxicity.
It contains two types of antioxidants: hydrophilic (water-loving) and hydrophobic (fat-loving). Vitamin C and phenols are hydrophilic, whereas derivatives of vitamin A (carotenoids) and E (tocopherols) in bee pollen are hydrophobic antioxidants.
Vitamin C reacts with oxygen free radicals and also maintains the nitrous oxide levels required for the relaxation of smooth vessels of the blood vessels. This is the mechanism how it lowers the blood pressure. Moreover, the fermentated bee pollen is even better because the fermentation boosts its phenolic content and antioxidant potential.
How bee pollen supports your immune system?
The bee pollen boosts your immunity by increasing antibody titre, and strengthening lymph organs (organs that produce antibodies, and immune cells such as the thymus and spleen).
A study on broilers supplemented with bee pollen showed a progressive increase in antibody titers (IgM) at day 21 and an increase in the weight of the thymus at day 42. The study concluded that pollen supplementation for 21 days increases immunity in birds.
In another study, bee pollen shows a marked increase in body’s defense; It increases the number and phagocytic action of neutrophils (first defenders of the body), T-lymphocyte count (part of the second line of body defense specially designed to target the attacker), and restores the neutrophil and lymphocyte ratio.
Can bee pollen make you look younger?
Bee pollen and bee bread (fermented bee pollen) contain a high concentration of antioxidants (including flavonoids and polyphenols), amino acids, vitamins A and E, and minerals (potassium and zinc) that diminish fine lines and wrinkles, support collagen production, protect skin from oxidative stress, and delay the signs of aging. They are added to many beauty products for glowing, radiant skin.
How is bee pollen harvested?
Bees rely on pollen for all their nutrition. Honey bee workers gather pollen, pack it in a ball or pellet, and transfer it to the hive.
How does a honey bee collect pollen?
Bees grasp pollen with their antennae. Often, they scrap pollen with anthers (filaments attached to pollen) with their mouth. Also, some bees have specialized hairs around the mouth for pollen collection.
During pollen collection, the forager (worker) bees moisten the collected pollen with saliva and transfer it to the pollen basket. The pollen basket is a hollowed area on the bee’s hind legs lined with tiny stiff hairs where pollen is stored until it is transferred to the hive.
Steps involved in the bee pollen harvesting
Step 1: Collection
Commercially, the pollen traps placed in front of the hives trap the pollen when the returning forager bees walk through the plastic or metallic mesh on their way to hive. Regular pollen trapping decreases the population of bees to one-third. Therefore, it is discontinued for a week to resume the bee population. Pollen is food for bees, and too much pollen trap reduces the food supply in the hives.
Step 2: Drying
The harvested pollen is moist and contains 7-21% water. The high moisture content rapidly deteriorates the grain due to mold growth. A moisture content of 2.5-6 is considered safe for packaging and storage. To reduce the moisture, the bee pollen are dried in direct sunlight in shallow baskets with netting or placed in special driers for a longer duration.
How to check if bee pollen is dried and ready for the next step? When pressed between the nails/fingers, the pollen should remain intact and not crush or deteriorate indicates that they are dried enough for cleaning and packaging.
Step 3: Cleaning
The pollen is cleaned with a series of hand sieves to remove the dust. Ultimately, some hand-picking may be required to remove the larger debris. Some manufacturers use gravity-fed screening systems where the seeds are passed through different-sized punched screens or plates to withhold the debris and collect the pollen in the box below. The last screen is like a fine sieve collecting dust below the plate.
Step 4: Packaging
After cleaning, the bee pollen is immediately packed in clean, air-tight containers. Immediate packing is critical because the dried pollen rapidly absorbs moisture from the air and becomes moldy. Also, to protect them from insect infestation, they are kept in freezers for 24-48 hours and then stored in refrigerators before they get into the hands of the customers.
What is honeybee pollen used for in the hives?
In the hives (when the pollen trap is removed), the collected pollen is converted to a high-quality product known as bee bread.
The flightless bees break down the gathered pollen, saliva, honey, digestive enzymes, and lactic acid and store it in the wax honeycomb cells. During the ripening process, the collected pollen undergoes lactic acid fermentation by bacteria and fungi to make bee bread (fermented bee pollen).
Beebread is the primary source of protein for honey bees. It also provides minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients for royal jelly production.
The forager bees collect 50-20 grams of pollen in one colony every day, while they collect 14-140 kg of pollen annually.
How to eat bee pollen (pollen fortified foods)?
Pollen granules are sweet and and crunchy and consumed in the diet as follows:
- Can be added to yoghurt or cereal with other nuts, seeds and fruits.
- It’s a natural sweetener and can be added to coffee or tea to replace or reduce white sugar.
- Powdered pollen can be added to the fruit smoothie.
- Sprinkle pollen granules over salad for added crunch and sweetness.
- Add it to your home-made salad dressing.
- Sprinkle ground pollen over popcorn
- In breakfast, garnish it on Nutella or almond butter spread on toast.
- Can be added to a beef burger as a preservative – quercetin in bee pollen decreases the deterioration of lipids.
- Adding fermented bee pollen powder to cow, goat, and sheep milk yields yogurt with a higher antioxidant properties. It also improves the surface texture, taste, smell, appearance, and cohesion of the yogurt.
- Adding multiflora bee pollen to gluten-free bread results in well-leavened dough with effortless machine kneading. The pollen-fortified bread is smoother, with finer crumb grain, desirable crust color, and a delayed staling process.
How much bee pollen is safe to eat?
The bee pollen is available in various formulations, i.e., pills, tablets, capsules, powders, and granules. It is safe to take bee pollen by mouth.
How to use honeybee pollen? The recommended daily dosage for adults is 3-5 teaspoons and 1-2 teaspoons for children. One teaspoon of pollen is equivalent to 7.5 grams of pollen. You can consume a small dose of bee pollen if you suffer from any chronic disease, but it’s best to consult your functional medicine doctor or naturopath.
Don’t consume bee pollen if you’re allergic to pollen (seasonal pollen allergy). The bee pollen can cross-react with your antibodies and can lead to mild to severe allergic reaction.
How to eat bee pollen for weight loss?
Yes, bee pollen can be used for weight loss. Also, increased fat accumulation secondary to non-alcoholic fatty liver can also benefit from bee pollen. In non-alcoholic fatty liver, fat accumulates in the liver cells and appears as a bump in the upper abdomen. The high phenolic content in the bee pollen is the major player in the game, and bee pollen with high phenolic content will benefit you.
In an animal study, rats supplemented with Scisandra Chinese bee pollen for eight weeks showed a reduction in weight with a simultaneous decrease in circulating and liver fat.
In two separate studies, ethanolic extract of bee pollen or chestnut bee pollen given to the mice not only showed a reduction in weight but also showed a decrease in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL), often referred to as bad cholesterol.
How to eat bee pollen for allergies?
It also has an anti-allergic action. The phenolic compounds in bee pollen decrease the production of IgE (antibodies mediating the allergic reaction) and reduce their migration to the lungs. They also prevent the binding of IgE to mast cells; the binding releases the granules from mast cells that attract the cells of inflammation, leading to allergy symptoms.
Myricetin is the most potent phenolic compound in bee pollen responsible for the anti-allergic effect of bee pollen.
However, if you are allergic to weed pollen such as mugwort, ragweed, chrysanthemum, and dandelion, bee pollen can give you hives or a severe life-threatening allergic reaction, anaphylactic shock. Don’t use it without physician’s recommendation if you are allergic. Also, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test confirms if bee pollen cross-reacts with your antibodies and can trigger an allergic reaction.
Conclusion
Bee pollen prevents and treats chronic diseases, especially metabolic disorders. It is effective against diabetes, clogged arteries, heart disease, and maintaining a healthy weight. It is safe to consume it daily by mouth. It also delays aging and improves blood circulation, mental and physical health.
Bee pollen must be of high quality and free of contaminants. After harvesting bee pollen from pollen traps, the collected pollen goes through the process of purification, sieving, drying, and packaging to make it fit for human consumption. The bee pollen needs to be processed immediately to prevent all sorts of contamination.