How To Incorporate Bee Pollen Into Your Food
09 Oct 2018
How To Incorporate Bee Pollen Into Your Food
You might be wondering what bee pollen is – these little yellow pellets? Bee pollen is simply pollen from flowers collected by bees. But there’s nothing simple about how this pollen is collected. One teaspoon dose of pollen takes one working bee 8 hours a day every day for a month to collect.
It’s important to remember this when taking bee pollen, as it comes at a very high cost to the bee. It is the food of young bees, and for great reason.
These incredible little pollen balls consist of 40% protein! <1> That is more protein than any animal product per square inch.
Not only that, but it contains vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, lipids, and of course that protein we talked about. <2>
A study on the antioxidative properties of bee pollen showed that “in most of the investigated plant species, antioxidative capacity of bee pollen was very high.” <3>
Another study showed antibacterial activities observed in the extracts of particular bee pollen types. <4>
While studies haven’t confirmed any evidence, many athletic teams use bee pollen for endurance and stamina. Athletes and coaches use it as a natural way to boost performance.
So now we know that bee pollen is an exceptionally nutritious food for bees, and seemingly a pretty good one for us too, as long as we use it responsibly…but how exactly do we use bee pollen?
You’ll want to incorporate it into your meals raw, as heating it can diminish its nutrients and enzymes.
The easiest way is to simply sprinkle no more than a tsp a day onto your breakfast oatmeal, your smoothie or acai bowl, or even on top of your salad.
The key is to make sure you have something that goes well with the little added crunch that bee pollen brings. It has a very mild grassy taste to it that can easily match with a delicious smoothie or juice. In fact, that is one of the most common ways to consume bee pollen.
Looking for some more unconventional ways to eat pollen? Try adding a teaspoon to your avocado toast with a little nutritional yeast and Himalayan pink salt for some added texture. You can also top a fresh batch of brownies with a tsp of bee pollen. Another not-so-common way to consume this is by topping your coconut milk ice cream with a sprinkle of bee pollen and chocolate sauce. Its the perfect combination of creamy, crunchy and healthy.
In order to keep the pollen fresh, bees keep it in special storage. You should do the same and be sure to always keep bee pollen in the refrigerator in a sealed container to avoid spoilage.
However you decide to use bee pollen, just make sure you do it with some serious appreciation for the bees that worked long and hard to make it. Make sure you treat this golden nugget like the true gold it is to the bees. Use it wisely and you could see some striking benefits.
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