Bee pollen is one of our top 10 superfoods for a good reason! I mean, what more could we ask for in a food, but the very essence of flowers?
Millions of individual, high quality, golden granules are extracted from the flower and joined together with flower nectar to create these small pollen pellets. Not by
human hands, but by our buzzing bee friends, the master pollinators of the earth!
Bee Pollen Granules As Food
When we eat this pollen, it can add huge amounts of raw nutrition to our diet, rounding out all the vitamins and minerals essential for human health.
Energy Packed Food!
Bee pollen energizes the body with its powerful and potent source of whole food nutrients collected by the incredible, energy buzzing bee.
Its 40% protein ratio provides long burning fuel and sustenance for achieving the kind of focused action that goes right to the source of your being. ("bee"-ing)
When I eat these little nuggets of protein, I feel a productive energy, like the bees themselves collecting the pollen grains.
Sometimes, I take the simple approach and eat it by the spoonful as a protein-rich snack. I love the way it tastes, sweet and tangy. Some people don't prefer the taste, however, that's when it is great camouflaged into recipes. It goes particularly well with citrus flavors or lemon. (See our lemon bar recipe.)
Quality Control
Pollen varies in quality depending on the flowers collected and the cleanliness of the product. You want to ensure your bee pollens are pesticide-free and do not contain any pollutants from the environment.
Bee pollen needs to be dried at the appropriate temperature, in an airtight location, to ensure the best nutritional quality. The best kind is freeze dried, but refrigerated pollen is still a considerably nutritious food.
More About Pollen Spores!
Aside from the benefits of bee pollen as a high quality superfood, I always like to know as much as I can about the foods I consume. Bee's are extremely interesting insects and the food they create is no less so.
A mixture of different pollens are created by bees to provide a rich and balanced diet for the colony. Research has shown one pound of pollen usually supplies 4,500 bees for one year.
The actual granule is microscopic in size, but as the bee gathers more, it snowballs into a pellet size ball. There are literally thousands of these individual spores within each pollen pellet! They are brought back to the entrance of the hive where the collection trap is located. The bees join the grains together with flower nectar, along with their own digestive enzymes.
These pollen nuggets are collected in a trap by the bee keeper. When harvesting pollen for human consumption, it is important to maintain the bee colony, so only up to 50% of the pollen is harvested, leaving the rest for the bees to continue the life of the hive.
Eating The Pollen
If you are eating these bee granules for the first time, it is important that you do it in small quantities to start. We usually recommend 1/2 teaspoon at the most, and building up from there.
The reason for this is because some people are sensitive and have reactions to it. This may include minor laxative side effects or gastro intestinal irritation. So, if this is the case, take it slow. Ayurvedically speaking, it is a heating food, so people who tend to run hot, should avoid it in high doses.
Some people who follow a strict raw vegan diet, avoid the use of bee-pollen in raw vegan recipes due to the fact that it is an "animal" (bee) based product.
But for others, like myself, we see it as an energy rich protein that is a little gift from the bee fairies and their bee keepers of the world... and we thank you for all your work!
