Victoria Beckham loves it, and so, apparently, does Kourtney Kardashian. It can be found in smoothies, on top of acai bowls, and in jars at farmers markets and health food stores throughout North Texas.
But what is it? And is it as good for us as the (cough, cough) experts claim? It depends on who you ask, so we decided to go a step beyond WebMD to find out more.
What is bee pollen, exactly?
It's what's carried around on bees' legs as they fly around, naturally pollinating plants and flowers. When bees make honey, some of this pollen ends up in the sticky substance, too.
The bee pollen that's sold in stores and in your smoothie is actually a mix of pollen, bee spit, and a little bit of honey.
Some say that bee pollen is nature’s perfect food, a miracle in a jar. A Google search will suggest that bee pollen can do everything from reducing inflammation to strengthening your immune system, that it can give you energy, reduce stress, help with asthma, menopause, and much more.
But is it really a superfood? A cure-all?
Not so fast.
"There is no data supporting that in human beings bee pollen does anything beneficial," says Dr. Richard L. Wasserman, medical director of pediatric allergy and immunology at Medical City Dallas Hospital.
Bee pollen falls into the category of what’s known as “nutraceuticals,” Wasserman says, a food that’s supposed to have a medical benefit, to cure a known medical disease. Bee pollen is often exempt from FDA scrutiny because bee pollen may not cross state lines, he says. “We believe that people that have chronic ailments have enough burden from their primary disease to not have unproven risks from unproven therapies [like bee pollen],” he adds.
What about bee pollen for allergies?
Theoretically, bee pollen might benefit sufferers of allergies, says Elizabeth Stasny, registered dietitian with Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital in Denton. "It could potentially help if the pollen happens to be the same one that you're allergic to," she says. "Pollen causes allergies, but in small doses, when it's eaten, it can help reduce them."
But how do you know that the pollen that's in the jar of bee pollen that you just bought is the same pollen that you're allergic to, and even if it is, how do you know how much of it to take?
You don't, which is the problem, says Wasserman, who advises against bee pollen, anyway.
“Allergy shots are clearly effective and there are now several oral allergy products proven for ragweed and grass pollen allergies,” he says. “The manufacture of these products is highly precise and highly controlled. The drug companies that make these get proteins from pollen, and extract it in precise amounts and blend it into a serum for allergy shots and tablets. It is highly specific, and bee pollen is completely unpurified and uncontrolled in its composition. You have hundreds of thousands of bees that contribute to bee pollen, so you have this uncontrolled material.”
Bee pollen can be harmful
All of this means that bee pollen is a wild card. It might be good for you. It might not be. But there's a dark side to it, too.
"It is potentially dangerous," Wasserman warns. "Every time a person with pollen allergies takes bee pollen, they're exposing themselves to the risk of anaphylaxis. Very few people have had near-fatal reactions to bee pollen, but there are those reports."
So what if the pollen in bee pollen isn't something that you're allergic to? "If a person isn't allergic to that pollen, taking that pollen will do no good," he says.
And for the claims of bee pollen’s curative properties? Some studies have shown pollen to have antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties, and it’s seen as a promising agent in treating burn wounds when in topical form.
But Wasserman sticks to advising against it. “There are only two reliably predictable results from bee pollen,” he says. “You can enrich the people selling it and you can lose weight in your wallet.”