What is bee pollen?

Bee pollen, sometimes called "bee bread" or "ambrosia," is the pellet-shaped food bees use to feed their hive. It contains pollen from many plants, nectar, and honey bee enzymes secreted by salivary glands (1,2).

It contains high concentrations of nutrients, including biologically active micronutrients like minerals, polyphenols, and vitamins, making it valuable as a nutritional source for humans.

Humans have consumed bee pollen as a food, dietary supplement, and (folk) medicine for thousands of years

What is it used for?

Bee pollen is a food people often use as a dietary supplement to help improve human health.

Due to bee pollen's composition, researchers have looked at bee pollen's potential to impact our health in six ways:

Anti-allergenic: improve seasonal and other allergies

Anti-atherosclerotic: reduce cardiovascular disease risk

Anti-bacterial, anti-fungal: reduce bacteria and fungi's ability to reproduce

Anti-carcinogenic: reduce cancer risk

Anti-inflammatory: reduce inflammation

Anti-oxidative: slow damage to cells caused by free radicals

In theory, bee pollen contains the correct nutrients and micronutrients (like minerals, polyphenols, flavonoids, vitamins, etc.) to help improve our health. However, it's yet to be proven clinically, so it cannot be used or prescribed as a regulated, therapeutic medication

Is it regulated?

Currently, manufacturers sell bee pollen in the United States as a dietary supplement which means it doesn't receive premarket evaluation before it's available for sale.

In recent years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has removed bee pollen-containing supplements from the market because they contained illegal or improperly advertised ingredients. As with all dietary supplements, it's essential to know the source of your bee pollen.

What about pesticides and herbicides in bee pollen?

Researchers have looked at pesticides and herbicides residues that may be present in bee pollen and have determined they do not pose a health risk based on currently available science

The good news.

Bees are more than pollinators and honey producers, they also produce safe, edible pollen we can enjoy. Bee pollen may even have healthful properties we've yet to discover as researchers continue to explore this bee food.