The benefits of bee pollen

Published 12:03 pm Friday, March 16, 2012

When doing nutritional counseling, or seminars, I’m often asked which diet supplements I “take” as well as recommend. I get a few raised eyebrows when I tell folks that if I could take only one nutritional supplement, I would choose “bee pollen.”
That’s right, bee pollen. That might seem strange, but did you know that bee pollen is actually a unique, and powerful food?
Honey bees eat pollen, because they need incredible amounts of energy to fly on average, 15 miles per hour, and visit as many as 1,200 flowers  in a single flight.
Also, bee pollen has been used for centuries by cultures all over the world for its energy and healing effects.
In fact “Hippocrates” wrote on the healthful benefits of bee pollen.
First, let’s look at what bee pollen is. Pollen comes from the male “stamen” of flowers. Bee pollen is created when worker honey bees transport pollen granules to their nests with specially arranged hairs on their hind legs. When honey bees arrive back to the hive, they have to crawl up through a series of ¼” wiring to enter. This process harmlessly scrapes the pollen from the bee’s legs and body and drops it down into a collection tray. After the pollen has been collected, it’s sifted, then frozen.
Now we know what bee pollen is, but what makes it such a super food?
First, bee pollen contains over 5,000 enzymes and co-enzymes, which is more than any other food. Enzymes are specific proteins that “catalyze” chemical reactions in the body. Catalyze  is just a fancy word for speed up. These enzymatic reactions are necessary for everything from muscle contraction, to using the nutrients in our food, to even breathing. In fact, without enzymes, life couldn’t exist.

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