20/07/2026
Bee Pollen is making a bit of a comeback. I remember about 30 years ago it was a real craze, and then it quietly slipped away as the 'next big thing' came around. Lately bee pollen has slipped back into the spotlight, and I believe its for good reasons. It is a highly bioavailable, 100% natural superfood.
Now, anyone that knows me, knows I don't take supplements. I don't like them. Made by machines, compressed into tablets, synthetic vitamins....... its just not something I believe in. So if I think I may be deficient in something I normally turn to wholefood powders. But most of them are not 100% complete with everything the body needs. And this is where bee pollen steps in.
I have just bought myself a packet of bee pollen. And I'm very excited about it. It really is natures superfood. And no, I don't sell it, but I thought it may be something to share about, because it truly is an amazing whole food. So I looked into bee pollen, how the bees make it and how we harvest it, just to make sure the bees are ok. So.... all about bee pollen 👇👇👇
Bee pollen is a mixture of flower pollen, nectar and bee enzymes, collected by the bees as they forage from flower to flower. As bees visit blossoms, pollen grains cling to the fine hairs covering their bodies, and then the bees groom the pollen into specialised baskets on their hind legs (known as corbiculae), mixing it up with nectar and natural enzymes to form small pellets. Upon returning to the hive, beekeepers use specially designed pollen traps that gently remove a portion of these pellets as the bees enter, while leaving sufficient pollen for the colony's own nutritional needs. Thank goodness, I did wonder if taking all the pollen could hurt the bees.
Bee pollen is regarded as one of nature's most nutrient-dense foods. It contains:
🐝 complete protein, providing all nine essential amino acids: leucine, isoleucine, valine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan and histidine, along with non-essential amino acids including arginine, alanine, glycine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, serine, proline, tyrosine and cysteine.
🐝 a broad spectrum of vitamins including provitamin A (beta-carotene), vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), vitamin B6, biotin (B7) and folate (B9).
🐝 mineral content including potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, chromium, molybdenum and small amounts of sodium.
🐝 beneficial fats including omega-3 fatty acids, omega-6 fatty acids, oleic acid, linoleic acid and palmitic acid
🐝dietary fibre, glucose, fructose, organic acids, lecithin, phytosterols (including beta-sitosterol), trace amounts of coenzyme Q10, and naturally occurring nucleic acids (DNA and RNA fragments).
🐝 antioxidant phytonutrients including quercetin, kaempferol, rutin, isorhamnetin, luteolin, apigenin, catechins, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, gallic acid, beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin.
🐝 enzymes - amylase, invertase, phosphatase, catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD), which are added by the bees during pollen collection or occur naturally within the pollen itself.
It must be said though, that the exact nutritional profile of bee pollen varies according to the flowers visited by the bees, where the bees live and the season in which it is harvested, making each batch a unique reflection of its botanical origin. But I'm excited to take my first dose and I feel it takes the guess work out of the question 'what might I be deficient in?'
The people that can't or shouldn't take bee pollen are those with allergies to bees or flower pollen. But for the rest of us - its very cost effective and 100% made by nature. It says on the packet I bought to take 1 to 2 tsps but I am starting with a ¼ a teaspoon and I will see where I go from there.
