Bee pollen is becoming popular in recent days. There are many people who started eating bee pollen. It is termed as a superfood since it has high nutrients. All over the place, people are appearing in their breakfast bowls, blending them in their smoothies, or stirring it in their salads.
But now the question is what does bee pollen taste like? Does it taste like honey, or is it bitter, is it crunchy or chewy? This article answers all your questions. So get ready to understand everything about the taste of bee pollen.
Table of Contents
What Is Bee Pollen?
Bee pollen is a rainbow coloured soft granules that are carried away from the legs of bees that carry them.
They are soft and little grains of fresh pollen that are stuck to the legs of forager honey bees when they are collecting nectar from pollinating plants to prepare honey. These pollen grains mixed with nectar are modified into small nuggets when bees carry it back to their hive on their legs. This pollen is stored in the hive and turns a major food to larvae in order to survive. Bee pollen is a mixture of the honey bees salivary secretions, flower nectar, the pollen of the flower and the secreted natural enzymes.
What Are The Nutritional Benefits Of Bee Pollen?
Bee pollen is the superfood and nutrition powerhouse known for it. It contains several nutrients that serve as a balanced diet. It was initially used by the Tang Dynasty in China for medical purposes for centuries. Today, bee pollen is becoming popular all over the world.
Studies are showing that the bees pollen has following nutritional benefits:
1. Rich In Nutrients:
The values of nutrients contained in bee pollen are in the form of proteins, fibers, carbohydrates, fats and minerals. Asides containing antioxidants it also has antifungal and antibacterial properties.
2. Vitamins:
The Bee pollen got Vitamins such as the Vitamin B complex (B1, B2, B6, and Folic acid), Vitamin C, including other fat-soluble solids i.e. provitamin A and Vitamin C.
3. Minerals:
Bee pollen contains high levels of minerals such as potassium, zinc, magnesium and calcium, iron.
All these make bee pollen an important source of nutritional supplement. Just a teaspoon or two of this bee pollen daily would keep you energized all day long.
The Health Benefits Of Bee Pollen:
Not only are there nutritional benefits to bee pollen but also there are health benefits.
- It Improves energy level
- Its anti-inflammatory properties helps to prevent inflammation and swelling
- It improves digestive health
- It helps in treating infertility
- It supports cardiovascular system
- Bee pollen helps in reduction of cholesterol and blood lipids.
- It acts to promote liver health and ensures an immunity system.
- It promotes liver health and improves immune system
- It fights against bacteria
- Helps in relieving symptoms of menopause.
- It helps in preventing asthma
- It also treats some seasonal allergies.
What does Bee Pollen Taste, Sweet or Bitter?
If one wishes to know more about what the bee pollen tastes one must focus on the way of preparing it. A single grain of bee pollen can get pollen from several flowers. Each flower has a different colour, texture, taste and content in nutrients. Therefore, it is also varied when it comes to the pollen from pollen. As we prepare fruit salad by mixing all kinds of fruits, honey bees too prepare granules of pollen from different flowers. Just the way the mix of fruits in fruit salad alters the taste of fruits, so does bee’s pollen.
The taste of bee pollen also varies based on several factors. The season, the climatic variations, time, floral source, etc contributes to the variation in the taste of bee pollen.
You might think that bee pollen is sweet just like honey as it is made from honeybees. But that is not the case. Bee pollen has a granular texture with a bit of crunchy and a bit of chewy form, and tastes like a fresh earth or a chalk added with a little sweetness of raw honey. But it might taste bitter sometimes depending upon the seasons or time of the year.
Though no two grains of bee pollen taste similar, they may taste the same if they are made from the same flowers in the same region. Though it is in granular form it can melt easily in your mouth.
How To Eat Bee Pollen?
There is a great number of people who prefer to enjoy the food of bee pollen just the way it is. It is either used as a topping to your food such as porridge, yoghurt, smoothies and pancakes. You can also use it as a nutritional supplement. You can also use it in the form of nutritional supplements.
But if you are allergic to pollen then be careful while eating this. Start with just ½ teaspoon of bee pollen and then slowly increase the quantity if you don’t get an allergy.
Here are some of the ways to use bee pollen in your food:
With Honey:
You can mix bee pollen with raw honey. It boosts your immune system.
Tea:
You can add some bee pollen in your daily tea or in hot ginger tea along with lemon and honey. It can be sprinkled over your morning coffee.
Topping:
Because of its subtle sweetness and floral taste, together with its chewy character, many people enjoy the use of it as an additional topping. Either spread over a bowl of cereal or yoghurt for a bowl of berries, avocado, and nut milk in order to enhance its texture and flavour is a great beginning to your day. You may also use it on top of coconut yoghurt or overnight soaked oats to kick-start your nutrient-filled day.
Granola:
Its crispiness and mild flavor makes it a great choice to go together with your home granola or handmade trail mix.
Salad Mix:
You can use it to dress your leafy green salad or bowl of fruit salad.
Chocolate:
It can be used in your chocolate bars with nuts and seeds.
Cakes And Cookies:
Bee pollen also blends well with your cakes and cookies.
Not Vegan:
But if you are a vegan, then you might not consider eating bee pollen as it is made from bees.
Is Eating Bee Pollen Dangerous?
There is not much information about its effectiveness and consequences of consuming bee pollen.
But, taking bee pollen from bee hives may result in a decrease of the bee’s population. In other words, it takes away the essential nutrients for the bees. Bees need pollen in order to grow young.
But luckily, during mid-summer, bees overproduce pollen and it is the best time to collect bee pollen from hives.
Final Thoughts:
Are there any people who do not enjoy the taste of honey? Honey is a natural sweetener, which is used in substitution to the refined sugars, jaggery etc. because of its natural benefit.
But have you ever heard about bee pollen? What if I tell you bee pollen can be eaten! You might be thinking now what does bee pollen taste like! Does it have the same sweetness that of honey or does it taste completely different?
Bee pollen does contain a little amount of sweetness from honey, but its flavour is completely different. It might taste like an avocado for some, and others might feel its taste as that of earth or chalk. Some may even feel that it may taste like egg yolk. This variation in taste is dependent on a number of reasons such as the climatic variation, the nectar of the flowers from which it is made, the time of the year when it is made and the location.
Whatever be the taste of bee pollen, it has various nutritional and health benefits. Due to this reason this is becoming widely popular as superfood or nutrient-rich food all over the world.
What do you feel about this article? Share your thoughts and provide your valuable feedback.