Bee pollen is the pollen gathered from plants by honey bees, and brought back to their hive. Quality, color and texture vary considerably depending on location, environmental conditions and flower species. Bee pollen contains vitamins, minerals, amino acids, trace elements,enzymes and coenzymes, essential fatty acids enzymes, carbohydrates, carotenoids, bioflavonoids, phytosterols, beta-sitosterol, kaempferol, rutin and quercetin.Also, bee pollen provides a high content of the immune boosting RNA (ribonucleic acid) and DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).DNA and RNA are important for health and longevity. Various researches have described pollen as nearly a complete food, containing nearly every nutrient required to sustain life.Bee pollen supplements they are available as capsules, chewable tablets, jelly, liquids and powders.
Bee Pollen Medical Effects and Benefits
Bee pollen has been used to improve symptoms of BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia) and chronic prostatitis, reduce allergies, and protect the liver from effects of some toxins. In 1997, Naum Petrovich, a Russian researcher and the author of the book “Bees and People” states he agrees that bee pollen users live long lives.
Bee pollen contains rutin, which strengthens capillaries and blood cell walls. Rutin is a glucoside that provides increased resistance to the walls of the capillaries, and its basic function is to reinforce the general resistance throughout the entire capillary system. Also, strengthens the heart, and helps control high blood pressure.
Bee pollen has a high level of iron in it, which helps to raise levels of iron and hemoglobin in the blood, fighting off conditions with anemia. Bee pollen helps to enhance red blood cells. In one animal-based study, bee pollen resulted in increases in hemoglobin and serum iron. In a study on humans, bee pollen and some Chinese herbs were found to increase the number of red blood cells. A study by Dr. Peter Hemuss, found an increase of gamma globulins among women receiving bee pollen to reduce the undesirable adverse effects of radiation treatment. Those who used the pollen demonstrated a higher level of immune system activity, less nausea and less hair loss than those who did not take bee pollen. Romanian scientists, gave bee pollen to 110 chronic hepatitis patients. Each patient took 30g of bee pollen each day for a period lasting from 90 to 180 days. The findings demonstrated an healing in the ratio of gamma globulin to bloodalbumine in all the 110 patients.
The basic antiallergy compound in bee pollen is quercetin. This antioxidant stops inflammation caused by neutrophils, the white blood cells activated in response to an allergen. A study in Japan found that quercetin is twice as effective as a drug called sodium cromoglicate, sold as Nalcrom. A scientist at Heidelberg University Children’s Clinic in Germany, studied seventy children with hay fever and allergy-related asthma. He fed them a solution of honey and bee pollen daily during the annual hay fever period and 3 days weekly during the winter. Most of the children showed fewer symptoms after following this regimen. In a study reported in Sep 2008 edition of Ethonopharmacology found a bee pollen useful for allergies and improves inflammatory markers in the lung tissues. A therapy for allergies, called desensitization, was developed at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London. It improves allergies by helping to build immunity to allergens by using pollen as an antigen. Dr. Leo Conway, documented that 94% of his patients were completely free from allergy symptoms once treated with oral feeding of pollen.
Cernilton, an extract of bee pollen, has been used in prostatic problems for its anti-inflammatory and antiandrogenic activities. The efficacy of Cernilton (as 1 tablet 3 times daily for a 6-month period) for the therapy of chronic prostatitis syndrome was assessed in 90 men. 78% of participants without complicating factors experienced a favorable response with Cernilton treatment. 36% were cured of their symptoms, and 42 % improved in measures such as flow rate, leukocyturia in post–prostate massage urine. A clinical study performed in Germany using a specific bee pollen extract significantly improved total symptoms, pain and quality of life in men with inflammatory chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. Cernilton has been used to manage benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatitis in Europe for more than 35 years. A clinical study reported in the “British Journal of Urology” included 53 men with outflow obstruction due to benign prostatic hyperplasia who took either Cernilton or placebo daily for 6 months. At the end of the therapy period, 69 % of the men who took the extract said their symptoms had improved, compared with just 30% of the men who took placebo. A total of 89 patient with BPH participated in a 4-month study in which they received either Cernilton or Pygeum (Tadenan). More than three-quarters of men -78%- who received cernilton reported significant healing in their symptoms compared with 55 % of the participants who took Tadenan. Also, In a study, reported in the Nov 2007 edition of the journal Phytotherapy Research, found that steroids extracted from the bee pollen of the Brassica campestris herb promote apoptosis, of human prostate cancer cells in the lab.
Side Effects
Bee pollen is contraindicated in those with pollen allergies. Severe anaphylaxis can occur in people with bee pollen sensitivities.
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