What Does Bee Pollen Do For Weight Loss?

‍What Does Bee Pollen Do For Weight Loss?

Bee pollen is a mixture of the ingredients that bees derive from flowers and then mix with their own stomach enzymes (that they use to break down the flower’s ingredients.)

When bees move from flower to flower, they use their legs to collect the flower’s ingredients, then take it back to their hives, where they pack it into pellets that will eventually become the pollen.

It’s important to not confuse pure bee pollen with honey. Honey is created differently and the bee pollen that we are going to discuss for weight loss is something different. It’s what beekeepers collect for the hive in its purest sense.

Most of us know the importance bees play in a balanced ecosystem. We also know that honey is a fantastic substitute for cane sugar, as it tends to be lower in calories and easier to process.

But – many of us don’t realize the benefits that bee pollen can provide, not just to our overall health, but to aid us in weight loss. Bee pollen is fast becoming an important part of a person’s weight loss journey and it’s easy to see why.

1. Bee Pollen is a Low-Calorie Substitute for Higher-Calorie Foods

One of the great benefits of using bee pollen for weight loss is that it has a pleasant consistency and a light, sweet taste that makes it ideal to put on foods that you may have normally topped with something with a higher caloric count.

For example, one tablespoon of bee pollen contains about 40 calories, whereas one tablespoon of sugar contains about 60 calories and one tablespoon of dried fruit contains closer to 80 calories.

You can get a similar taste from bee pollen than you can from sugar or dried fruit with a lot fewer calories - and other added benefits as well.

Topping some of your favorite foods with bee pollen will be not only enjoyable to your taste buds, but will give you added benefits that will go well beyond just the taste and the lower caloric intake that bee pollen will create.

Common usages for bee pollen are things like: sprinkling it on your morning yogurt or granola… sneaking it into your lunchtime wrap, or using it as a topping for your favorite salad at night.

Bee pollen gives your meal a sweet substitute for other foods you may not want to reach for when you’re trying to lose weight, because those other foods are higher in calories and don’t contain the long-term health benefits that bee pollen can.

2. Pollen Can Increase Your Metabolism

The idea that something can increase our metabolism has been a long disputed issue amongst healthcare experts.

Is it possible to ingest something that actually makes our metabolism work faster?

The answer is yes. Bee pollen might help us lose weight more efficiently, because it naturally increases our ability to process other foods, thereby making our metabolism run at a higher level.

When your metabolism is at its peak, it’s much easier to lose weight, because a higher metabolism means that nutrients in your body are being converted into energy faster.

There is some great data that points to this idea that bee pollen can help you burn calories more efficiently, because it works with your body’s natural chemicals to help balance out metabolic needs and help keep your metabolism running at a smooth, constant rate, regardless of your activity level.

Bee pollen has been proven to contain more than 22 vitamins and other nutrients that our bodies need which clearly aids in our overall health.

And the more balanced our overall health, the better our metabolism reacts.

When we are trying to lose weight, it’s easy to stop thinking for a while about what’s best for our total body, mind, and health, and only focus on what’s best for our outward appearance.

By keeping our metabolism high, however, bee pollen helps us make sure we are burning the right calories and caring for our bodies, even while we are trying to lose weight.

3. Bee Pollen Can Decrease Your Appetite

Another significant advantage of bee pollen is that, while you are trying to lose weight, it has been proven to curb your appetite…in a natural way.

Bee pollen has phenylalanine in it. This is a fancy name for an amino acid that has been linked to making you feel more full, for longer. Scientists still don’t know exactly how it works, but it’s a huge benefit to those who could benefit from having a way to control hunger.

Our bodies are designed to send our brain signals when we are hungry. It’s an important part of our genetic makeup and has helped ensure survival for thousands of years.

Sometimes, though, we can benefit from turning off or at least diminishing that call for food when we are trying to lose weight.

When we’ve gone for a period of time without food, our body is equipped to send a signal to our brain that it’s time to fuel it with some nutrients. When we are overweight, we may be used to getting that signal more often because it requires more calories to stay at the weight we’ve become accustomed to.

By eating bee pollen, we interrupt that cycle and “trick” our body into thinking it’s fuller, longer.

Some may argue that this sounds unhealthy and that we should listen to our body and feed it when it asks.

But, for many who are trying to lose excess pounds, a natural ingredient like bee pollen will help curb their appetite a bit longer in between meals. And when your appetite is curbed, your body will start to use its fat stores to fuel itself, instead of relying on new calories coming in.

This is ultimately how we lose weight. We slow down, or deny, our body's source of new energy (calories) and force it to burn what it already has available.

An appetite suppressant like bee pollen will not keep us from reaching for the salsa and chips. But, it will help our body not send the signal to our brain that we need that salsa and chips.

4. Bee Pollen is High in Fiber

Finally, a huge benefit that bee pollen has for anyone who is trying to embark on a weight loss journey is that it is significantly high in fiber, which is a huge perk to helping someone lose weight.

Fiber has long been known to be important to any healthy lifestyle and plays an even bigger role for people who are trying to lose weight.

There are many benefits to a diet rich in fiber. It not only makes you feel full longer, but it is crucial in ensuring we have healthy digestive systems.

A healthy digestive system means our body can rid itself of the unwanted and unhealthy toxins we may consume during the day. Good gut health is important at any point in our lives, but when we are trying to lose weight it’s even more crucial because it keeps everything moving as it should.

Eating a diet that is rich in fiber can sometimes be challenging, because fibrous-rich foods are not always the most appealing. Adding bee pollen into your daily routine can help ensure you’ve met your dietary requirements for how much fiber you need and give you the peace of mind that you are doing all you can to maintain good gut health while also moving forward in your weight loss journey.