| By :
Ben Mester
In doing some recent research into the many benefits of honey as a sugar substitute, I stumbled upon some great research about the benefits of bee pollen. Prior to this research, I had no idea that people regularly consumed bee pollen as a dietary supplement, nor that it was so nutritious. But before discussing all of that, let's take a look at what pollen is. Pollen is the male reproductive germ seed that fertilizes and pollinates the female counterpart. It is very abundant in flowers and each tiny seed is microscopic. The outer casing of each seed is nearly impenetrable, and definitely indigestible to humans. It needs to be processed in some way before the nutrients inside can be unlocked. Bees bring the pollen back to their hive and utilize a specialized enzyme that lets them unlock the inner nutrients to use in the production of honey, royal jelly, and other things. The benefits of bee pollen are many, but there are also a lot of disputes as to the effectiveness of the different brands out there which we will discuss in detail later. **If you are allergic to bees, consult a physician before taking pollen supplements What are some of the benefits of bee pollen? Bee pollen has been shown to contain all of the nutrition that's essential to life. Some proponents claim that a person could live almost entirely off the nutrients in bee pollen and not suffer malnutrition. It has been called the perfect food and producers of bee pollen claim that it: Boosts vitality and energy, boosts the metabolism, contains all the major antioxidants, contains all the vital amino acids, and contains many different vitamins The real question is how do we unlock these nutrients from the tough outer shell? Because each grain is so microscopic and has a very strong casing, a lot of people are skeptical that bee pollen can even be used by humans at all. Bees need a special enzyme in order to break down the pollen's outer shell in order to get to the nutrients inside, but what about humans. Are the digestive enzymes and acids in the stomach strong enough to break down the tough outer casing of the bee pollen? Studies have shown that the stomach has some effectiveness on the shell, though many of the nutrients are not able to be absorbed and utilized. That's why many people prefer getting their bee pollen through other methods. One such method is by harvesting directly from the flower. Flower pollen is a different substance from bee pollen in that it's gathered directly from the field and is processed chemically in order to break down the outer casing. The most popular brand is Swedish flower pollen which claims to use a kind of special fermentation to break down the outer shell and deliver the inner nutrients unharmed. The benefit of this process is that it doesn't use harsh chemicals in order to extract the nutrients of the flower pollen. Another method of absorbing and utilizing bee pollen is to get it in raw organic honey. Rich, raw honey contains some of the bee pollen that the bees used in order to produce the honey itself. Organic raw honey is a very nutritious and healthy substitute for processed sugar. Plus, honey has many healthy benefits itself, and is even used medically to treat wounds.
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