Why I LOVE Bee Pollen for the Candida Diet
So I’ve gotten a lot of replies to my stories featuring the bowls with most of you wondering what the heck those little yellow things are
If you needed ONE more reason to love bees (SO CUTE) then the wait is over. Introducing bee pollen, a superfood which actually has more protein per ounce than any other food and is suitable for the Candida diet!
If you haven’t tried bee pollen, it’s truly so great! I’ve been a fan of bee pollen long before I began the Candida diet. Often touted as a superfood with a myriad of health benefits I discovered I liked the taste of it in college and jumped on the honeycomb…sorry. Although even natural sugars (honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar) are technically prohibited on the candida diet, I’ve given an exception to bee pollen due to the research I’ve read regarding its antimicrobial and candida-fighting properties. I do not give the same exception to honey due to its chemical composition (made up of mostly glucose and fructose) although I have heard of some people being fine having it in small amounts too. There are several studies that show bee pollen to be effective in the fight against Candida. I also have yet to notice any flare up in symptoms connected to my consumption of it, although I do usually have fairly small quantities (~2–3 tbs).
Benefits of Bee Pollen:
I won’t go too deep into some of the benefits of bee pollen because this stuff is pretty easy to find in a simple google search, but to give you an idea of reported benefits:
- High antioxidant content that protects from free radicals and chronic disease.
- May boost liver function and support detoxification processes.
- Anti-inflammatory properties.
- Strong anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties.
- Ability to boost immune system.
- May improve metabolism and longevity.
- Can be used to treat seasonal allergies.
- Helps lower cholesterol.
Also, to my amazement, you can literally buy the stuff on Amazon in pill capsule form
I could not imagine not reaping the benefits of the taste of this stuff and just swallowing it, but this should be an indicator for how excellent of a superfood bee pollen is!
Six of my favorite ways to use bee pollen (All Candida diet-friendly):
- On your chia bowl.
- This is hands down the number one way I use my bee pollen (see every @candida.journey breakfast post LOL). I personally love the texture of bee pollen so I don’t mind stirring it right into my breakfast bowl. I’ve found it tends to break down when mixing with liquids anyways and the sweetness of it can become pretty evenly distributed, making for a very tasty breakfast addition. Bee pollen also makes these bowls look so pretty imo so it has an added benefit of elevating your aesthetic
- Here’s the recipe for the foundation of the chia bowl I make every morning: http://www.ellavatedhealth.com/?p=198
2. Blended in your smoothies.
- This one is great if you’re not a fan of the texture and mainly after using bee pollen for the health benefits or slight sweetness enhancer. I do this sometimes if I’m not using a protein powder or using slightly less of a sweet fruit like raspberries or pomegranates.
3. On ice cream.
- For a better look at this one, here’s my homemade blueberry ice cream where I topped it with bee pollen. Like breakfast bowls, the bee pollen taste was very complementary to the blueberries and I really liked the flavor combination generated by this dessert.
4. Straight out of the jar…(xx)
- Apologies if this makes anyone cringe but I’ve actually found it to be a great tasty snack all on its own. I haven’t had it solo recently due to the natural sugar content and exercising caution around that but I have in the past and hopefully will in the future! The isolated taste is not as sweet as honey so it doesn’t overwhelm your taste buds but this one might still be an acquired taste. If you have a sweet craving it’s great just to have a spoonful and be able to curb it like that too!
5. Added to granola.
- This is perhaps one of my favorite unexpected ways to use bee pollen! I will post my recipe for homemade Candida-friendly granola soon.
6. As a salad topping.
- I’ve only attempted this once and the salad was not pretty enough to post
- but as you can imagine the effect of this was similar to adding something like dried cranberries to a salad (which are prohibited on the Candida diet) so if you have a salad that would normally have these then it’s a great substitute!
Where to buy:
If it’s available and you’re able to, I’d suggest purchasing it from your local co-op or farmer’s market. If this isn’t an option then I am going to suggest buying from Beekeeper’s Naturals. Probably the most important criteria for buying bee pollen is to make sure it’s sustainably sourced, as this ensures that the company is acquiring the pollen in a way that’s not destructive to the bees’ habitat. Beekeeper’s Naturals pollen is both sustainably sourced as well as 100% raw and from wildflowers. It is also pesticide free and non-gmo, something that I have not even seen mentioned on my local products so they are very much so producing a high quality pollen! You can also get 15% off your order by using the code ella15 at checkout, enjoy!
https://beekeepersnaturals.pxf.io/c/2564903/916004/12514
Candida-specific bee pollen research:
This study actually shows all honeybee products to be effective against 40 different yeast strains of Candida albicans, although bee pollen was found to be particularly effective: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21128826/
This study further highlights the antimicrobial and antifungal properties of specifically bee pollen: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4377380/
