Someone over on the “Bodybuilding Revealed” forum asked me about bee pollen today. This was a blast from the past…bee pollen and royal jelly were popular supps when I was a teenager. But these things never really go away, so I shrugged it off and replied that it was a nutritious, concentrated food, but, personally, I never noticed anything in particular when I tried it many years ago. In other words, it wasn’t something I considered as a “must have” in one’s supp stack.

Evidently, my response was judged insufficiently enthusiastic. The woman who posted the question linked me to this page in reply.

I have to admit, I got a huge laugh out of Paul’s take on it: ” um, 1997 called, they want their web design back.”

Nonetheless, I could see why she found it convincing…like a lot of what passes for health information on the internet, there were statements that were legitimately true. But there was even more that was unsourced and/or unverifiable. And there was JUST SO MUCH OF IT…words upon words upon words. It was serious information overload…a tactic that makes it hard as hell for the average person to even grasp all the “facts” – let alone test them to see if they’re true.

But it’s important to try. When it comes to health and supplement “information,” it pays to always be a little mistrustful of yourself and your emotions – the things you’re most likely to be carried away by, are the things you WANT to hear, after all. And – it’s important to note – you don’t have to “test” everything – a few key facts will tell you whether the author’s on the level or not. So let’s scan down the page and look for some questionable claims. Like this line, for example:


“The I.Q.’s of children have been doubled during documented clinical tests.”

Think about that one, for a second. That’s a pretty damned remarkable claim! Taken straight up, this means pollen supplements could turn a child with an average I.Q. of 100 into a genius with an I.Q. of 200! Or they could boost the intelligence of a child with a low I.Q. – say, 50 – into the normal range! And – even better – these astounding increases allegedly occurred under controlled conditions and are also “documented.” Awesome!!!

Except for one thing…no further details of this incredible achievement are given, and there are no references or links to the “documentation” – or any other info that would provide more insight on this miracle.

Sorry…extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof. An author that fails to supply it can’t be considered credible.

How about these two gems?


“The protein content of pollen (including certain peptones and gloculins) ranges from 10 to 35 percent (according to its plant origin), with a mean average of 20 percent.”

“Approximately 35 grams of pollen each day will supply all the body’s protein requirements. However, only 25 grams of pollen ingested daily will sustain a person in terms of providing sufficient amounts of each of the essential amino acids.”

Ok, I’m gonna ignore the “gloculins” – I expect that’s a typo (it’s “globulins”). It’s the math that made my jaw hang open…in essence, the author is claiming that 35 grams of a food that’s only 20 percent protein can supply “all the body’s protein requirements.”

Twenty percent of 35 g is 7 grams of protein.

For the record, the RDA is 0.8 g protein per kg of bodyweight – that’s already pretty damned low…45 g for a fly-weight like me. Yet 7 g is approx. 6X lower than that!

Nuh-uh…I find no way to believe this. NO protein is THAT good. Evidently the author never bothered to check if his “facts” made sense before passing them off as…well, facts.

Getting the picture? When you truly take the time to read the words, think about what they mean, and look for verification, all of a sudden, this “convincing” source of information starts looking pretty dubious.

The list of what pollen is good for is the icing on the cake. According to the author, bee pollen has been “extremely successful” for treating (drum roll) Acne, Aging, Alcoholism, Anemia, Angina Pectoris, Anorexia, Anxiety, loss of Appetite, Arteriosclerosis, Asthma, Atherosclerosis…and about 70 other ailments, ranging in severity from merely annoying (flatulence) to life-threatening (gangrenous wounds). Needless to state, the evidence for most of these uses is thin to non-existent.

Let’s get real: pollen isn’t enough to protect the bees themselves from serious diseases, for heaven’s sakes, so it’s a bit a stretch to imagine it could be a miracle cure for human diseases like leukemia, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s.

As they say: if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Now it’s important to realize that none of this means bee pollen is bad or useless…It’s certainly nutritious, and – on a strictly anecdotal basis – a lot of people feel it’s helped with their allergies, and there’s a limited amount of experimental evidence to support this. It’s not particularly expensive, either (at least from online retailers like iherb.com). But stuff like this:


A dosage of from 15 to 20 grams (one-half ounce) will usually meet the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for adults. Approximately 30 to 32 grams are necessary in order to anabolically strengthen and tone a person, whereas anywhere from 15 to 20 grams are essential for the proper maintenance of good health in active adults.

…is just silly. There is no RDA for pollen, nor is it “essential for the proper maintenance of good health in active adults.” If this were true, I’d be keeling over from a pollen deficiency by now, not hauling a** in the gym. Like I said at the top, it’s hardly a “must have.”

Share