To Bee or not to Bee?
Bees are widely recognized for the honey they produce, but this is not the only product from this active insect. Other healthy products such as bee pollen, propolis and royal jelly are also available.
Honey, and by this I mean ‘real’ undiluted honey and not the honey syrup this is commonly available in the supermarkets, has been used for centuries around the world for its abilities to heal everything form sore throats, to colds, flu, ulcers, diarrhea and other digestive disorders. This is due to its broad-spectrum antibiotic, antifungal and antimicrobial qualities.
Bees have already predigested the natural sugars in honey, changing them into simple sugars like fructose and dextrose, making them easier for use to digest. Naturally sweeter than sugar, a lesser quantity should be used in food preparation. Always choose raw honey for its health qualities. Raw honey is not over heated nor sterilized, meaning that the enzymes are still active and the vitamins and other nutritional benefits have not been destroyed by heat. Honey that has been highly processed and heat treated so that it remains liquid has no active enzymes and the nutritional value is significantly reduced. Unpasteurized honey has the ability to crystallize.
Bee Pollen is a highly nutritious food source for the bees, which they collect on their travels from flower to flower. There are two types of pollen, the light weight dry pollen that is airborne and the heavier ‘wet’ pollen that is sticky. It is generally this ‘wet’ pollen that is collected from a wide range of plants by the bees and filled into special sacks on their legs. The pollen is collected by the worker bees to feed the other bees as it rich source of protein, vitamins, fat and trace elements for them. The collection of some of this by the Apiarists via a special screen that scrapes some of this pollen off the bees’ legs as they enter their hives does not cause a food shortage as the busy worker bees always collect far more that the hive requires.
The pollen is collected from a wide range of plants so nutritionally it can vary considerably, but it does contain between 12 and 30 percent protein, contains every vitamin known to science, including being a rich source of Vitamin B2, B3 and B5. It also contains Vitamin C, calcium, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, manganese and minuscule amounts of Vitamin B12 and D, as well as containing between 5 and 10 percent of fat by weight. The fat is essential fatty acids and lecithin. Pollen also contains many plant chemicals. It is these plant chemicals that act as the natural immune system for the plant and our body can benefit in exactly the same way.
Despite this nutrition powerhouse, Bee Pollen is generally consumed in small quantities, so the most benefit is likely to come from the plant chemicals. Fresh unheated bee pollen has the added advantage of containing active enzymes, resulting in the body being able to save energy while it does not have to make its own enzymes.
To add pollen to your diet, start off slowly, firstly to make sure that you are not allergic to it (be extra cautious if you allergic to bee stings) and secondly as the taste make not be quite to your liking. From 1 to 3 tablespoons of pollen is good level to work up to gradually, and it can be added to cereals, blended into drinks, straight from the spoon.
Propolis widely used for its healing qualities and recognized as an antiseptic, antimicrobial and detoxifier this amazing by product of the bee hive has been used for centuries for man.
Collected by designated bees from the resins exuded from leaf buds and the bark of some trees, propolis is used to seal cracks and openings in the hive and to strengthen and repair honeycombs. It is also used to embalm invaders of the hive which are too big for the tiny bees to remove. If used topically it will prevent infections and can also help to heal infections that have already begun. Healing will commence rapidly if propolis is applied to abrasions, minor cuts and sores as it is also a stimulant for new tissue growth.
And then there is Royal Jelly, the food produced by bees for their larvae. Unlike the other products mentioned above, it is not a plant product, but a substance that the bees actually manufacture. Nurse bees ingest pollen and nectar and then secrete royal jelly from special glands in the heads. All larvae are fed on this secretion for the first few days of their lives, with only the queen bee being fed on this ‘royal’ food for life. Produced in small quantities, it is also labor intensive for Apiarists to collect.
While containing over 60% water, royal jelly is nutritionally rich including all the ‘B’ group vitamins, yet due to the quantity generally consumed offers no significant source of nutrition, even though it is often regarded as a source of essential fatty acids or as a complete amino acid supplement for vegans.
Bee products offer a variety of health benefits, so can be easily included in your diet, though if you are seeking their true health benefits, always look for fresh, unprocessed, unheated or raw products and avoid the highly processed varieties that offer little if any health benefits.