Bee Pollen

Nature's Miracle Health Food

The above headline is borrowed from the book "Bee Pollen (Nature's Miracle Health Food)" by Linda Lyngheim and Jack Scagnetti.

I first learned of the health benefits of Bee Pollen in the mid 70's. After my discharge from the Marines in '71 I developed a truly sedentary lifestyle. The closest I got to exercise for several years was the Wednesday night softball game. We had an awesome team. We never practiced and we all drank beer in the outfield. Obviously we didn't win many games but we sure had fun.

One night in the summer of '77 I got a base hit and tore a quadricep running to first base. One of my teammates gave me a scornful look and said "man, you're in pitiful shape".

He was right. I was 26, in pitiful shape, hurt, and embarrassed.

As soon as I healed I began a fairly serious training program, consisting of running, weight training, and karate. I also started what turned out to be a lifelong commitment to nutritional supplements.

Athlete Endorsements

The first thing I remember reading about pollen was the mind-boggling story of the Finnish distance runners.

In 1967, when the Finnish national coach, Seppo Nutilla, reportedly began incorporating pollen into his runners' diets, Finland claimed 1 of the world's top 100 distance runners, Lasse Viren.

Five years later, when Viren won the 5K and 10K events in the '72 Olympics, Finland boasted 39 of the world's top 100 distance runners! Finland!!

US college coaches soon learned of the Finnish runners' success with bee pollen and several added pollen to their athletes' diets. Seton Hall, St John's and Rutgers won rare track and cross-country championships after doing so.

British national athletics coach Tom McNab began testing pollen on his athletes in 1973 with considerable success. In June of '74 McNab introduced pollen to Steve Riddick, a fairly anonymous member of the US Olympic Team hopefuls.

In the winter of '75, in Zurich, Switzerland, Riddick ran the fastest 100 meters since the '64 Olympics. He then won Gold in the '76 Olympics in the relay, and in the winter of '76-'77 won 16 of 17 international track events and was hailed by many as the "world's fastest human".

Riddick was quoted by the press as calling bee pollen "fantastic" and claimed it increased his recovery power by 75% after a hard sprint. Riddick ran in shirts reading "Bee Power - Bee Pollen From England".

Muhammad Ali was said to pop pollen tablets like candy.

Hay Fever Hell

Throughout my 20's and early 30's I suffered from the worst case of hay fever I have ever personally witnessed. I double-dosed on OTC remedies every day and used nose spray constantly. And still there were days that I could do nothing but lay on my back. It was miserable.

For reasons I never really understood, running usually provided some temporary relief, so I ran pretty faithfully.

In '79 the New Orleans Track Club announced a new 10K race - the Crescent City Classic. Even though I had only moved to New Orleans a few months earlier, I somehow knew that this race would become one of those special New Orleans events.

I registered to run, my first ever competitive race.

I was right, it was great, and I became a road race junkie. For ten years I ran a race virtually every weekend. Mostly 5K or 10K, occasionally up to 30K (The Wall). Not because I was fast or competitive, I wasn't. It was for the post-race parties. Always had beer and food, often live music. Gotta love New Orleans.

I had a friend who ran the Mardi Gras Marathon every year and I would always be at the finish line to cheer him in. After the third or fourth time I decided that it was time for me to get off the sidelines and do a marathon.

Obviously I would need to increase my training, and I figured an increase in my supplements was in order as well. Up to that time I had been taking 1 gram of bee pollen daily along with assorted other supplements.

On the very day that I upped my bee pollen intake from 1 gram to 3 grams, my hay fever totally disappeared, and only reappeared on the very rare occasions that I ran out of pollen and didn't replenish my supply for a week or so.

I had been using nutritional supplements for most of a decade entirely on faith. I had never really felt any difference that I could attribute to the supplements until the pollen cured my hay fever. It was an epiphany.

At that time I had never read anything suggesting bee pollen could cure pollen allergies. In fact, a clinical nutritionist friend of mine totally dismissed the notion, but it is now a known effect of bee pollen.

I have also read often that locally produced pollen is best for pollen allergies, which makes sense and is probably true for many people. For me though, it never seemed to matter where the pollen came from. These days I get most of my bee pollen from raw unfiltered honey.

Nutritional Analysis

There is no shortage of information on the web regarding the nutritional breakdown and apparent health benefits of bee pollen, I won't do that here. Suffice it to say that bee pollen is probably the most complete and healthful food known to man.

Disclaimer

The statements on this website have not been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration. The products referred to on this website are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition or prescribe any treatment.