Bee Healthier

The honeybee might sting, but it sure has a sweet bite. The lowly bee goes from flower to flower collecting their pollens and plant proteins, only to return to the hive to manufacture some of the most complex and healthy superfoods known to humans.

Local Raw Honey
This sweet nectar is loved by nearly all. Honey is one of the sweetest raw natural foods known. For this reason, it is often treated disdainfully by nutritionists who warn of its high fructose and glucose content and high caloric content. While certainly not for diabetics, raw honey only has about a 50 glycemic index and less than 10 glycemic load. (Sucrose has a 70 glycemic index and a banana has a 13 glycemic load by comparison).

One reason this sweet bee food has a reasonable glycemic load is because it contains minute but complexly combined quantities of B vitamins, minerals, amino acids and healthy phytonutrients. These all contribute to subtly slow raw honey's sugar absorption. Raw honey is also antimicrobial, so can soothe sore throats and speed up wound healing. It also contains a number of enzymes, and its minute pollen proteins have been reported to help the body adapt to local pollens. Raw honey from local beekeepers is by far preferable to refined (clear) versions from the supermarket for this purpose. Local raw honey is probably most easily found at a local farmers market.

Bee Pollen
The pollen grains collected by the bee have been accused to be one of nature’s most complex foods. A batch of mixed pollen grain can contain nearly 40% protein and every vitamin known, with dozens of minerals and trace elements. Bee pollen also contains bioflavonoids, phytosterols, rutin, lycopenes, quercitin, and a variety of other phytonutrients. Pollen also contains omega-3 fatty acids and a number of enzymes.

Bee pollen has undergone recent international research with allergy sufferers and asthmatics. In both cases bee pollen reduced inflammation and frequency of attacks. Bee pollen has also been shown to reduce inflammation in prostate hyperplasia. Elsewhere clinical reports have been stacking up, illustrating bee pollen’s ability to speed up healing times, detoxify the liver, reduce inflammation and reduce fatigue.

Bee pollen’s ability to significantly reduce the severity and duration of seasonal pollen allergies appears linked to its containing various proteins from plant pollens. The plant proteins from pollen stimulate the immune system to recognize and adapt to local pollens, assuming it is produced in a local beehive.

Bee Propolis
Propolis is a resin collected from the conifer tree buds. Honeybees use it to plaster to their hives for stability and protection. Lab research has found more than 300 active constituents in propolis. These include aromatic oils, polyphenols, phenolic aldehydes, sequiterpene quinines, coumarins, flavonoids, esters, terpenes, lectins, cinnamic acids amino acids, minerals, vitamins to name a few.

These appear to work synergistically to give bee propolis its reputation as antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory. Propolis extracts have been reported to increase healing rates, and have illustrated anti-tumor effects in a number of laboratory protocols. Free radical reduction and bone healing effects have also been observed in the research on propolis. In vitro lab studies show propolis appears to improve liver cell function.

Royal Jelly
Young helper nurse bees produce from their glands a special elixir that transforms a normal bee into the super queen bee. This is royal jelly. With a minute complexity of vitamins (Bs, A, C, D, E), enzymes, numerous phytonutrients and 18 amino acids, royal jelly is one of the most fascinating foods on the planet. Many report that its transformative effects on the queen (who will live fifty times longer than a normal bee after being fed royal jelly) also stimulate various rejuvenating effects in humans.

Like propolis, royal jelly is also antimicrobial. It has been shown to inhibit or kill a number of active bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus coli, and Bacillus mettiens among others. Reports have suggested--with in vitro laboratory confirmation--that royal jelly supports the immune system by increasing T-cell counts, and supports the endocrine system with key phytoestrogens. Research has established that royal jelly has a healing effect upon the liver, and can reduce LDL cholesterol by 10-14%. Royal jelly use became popular in Southern Europe a half-century ago after French physicians began injecting their patients with it to speed healing for various ailments.

Physicians have since reported clinical results of easing symptoms of arthritis and fatigue with royal jelly.
Lab research has reported that royal jelly contains an amino acid precursor to collagen. Collagen is a central component of connective tissue and skin. This may also explain why many report royal jelly firms and tightens the skin when applied regularly. Some have reported increased fertility and heightened memory from royal jelly use. Royal jelly has also been a favorite of athletes, who have reported decreases in recovery times and improved athletic performance. In a 2001 study, Japanese researchers found that mice that ate fresh royal jelly had more endurance in swimming tests, and had lower levels of lactate along with decreased glycogen depletion.

Colony Collapse
There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the disappearance of honeybees from around the world, predominantly from those regions that use profuse amounts of pesticides (duh--these are predominantly insecticides--and bees are insects). Recent research has pointed to various pesticides, most notably the neonicotinoid family of pesticides such as clothianidin, banned in Germany in early 2008 for possibly causing the die-off of countless hives. However, many other pesticides are also toxic to bees. Further research has indicated that the immune systems of bees are weakening due to pollution, pesticides, chemical fertilizers and possibly even electromagnetic radiation.

So bee good to your body and add these wonderful superfoods from your local hives; and bee good to your local bees and avoid spraying your garden with chemical pesticides.