This short article is dealing with the natural honeybee product that is called bee pollen, certain claims and theories about its effects and other people that engage in sports and decide to take supplements that contain this compound in order to improve their athletic performance.
We all know how important bees are to our world. Actually, some of you may not know it, but every third bite of food that the average person consumes on a daily basis depends on our honeybee friends for pollination. Now, we could go on and on with this subject but let’s focus on the effects and benefits of the said honeybees substance.
Other than the key role that the bees have in nature, humans have also been using their honeybee pollen for athletic purposes, rightfully or not (many other people are also using it for many other reasons as well). An old article from the Chicago Tribune (a large and respected daily newspaper based in Illinois, Chicago) in 1977 shows that the use of these honeybees supplements among athletes and other sportsmen was quite popular even back then.
At that time it was a common practice for professional basketball players, Olympic runners and other athletes to take such supplements and tablets which contain that natural compound. Athletes that did take these products and won their race or game often explained that their victory was thanks to the product’s positive effects. A popular such athlete at that time was Steve Reddick.
The 60 yard dash at Millrose Games ended with the victory of Steve Reddick, that due to his belief that this bees compound was the real reason for his victory, decided to display a T-shirt with the writing: “Bee Power”. The high scoring guard John Williamson also appraised the benefits of the same material over his athletic performance at that time. John said that the ten tablets (of this honeybees product) a day give him lots of energy to give everything he has on the court.
On the other hand, the critics said that despite the fact that this material isn’t a dangerous substance, it’s not really effective in improving the athletic performance. The professor of apiculture at the Cornell University, Dr. Roger Morse, shared some of his knowledge about the effects of these products. He said that people have actually been using this honeybee compound for hundred of years.
The professor added that presenting the substance to athletes as some kind of an elixir that would act as a magic pill is wrong, although there is no doubt that this honeybee matter is a rich source of protein and have other possible benefits.
However, it is necessary to mention that if you happened to have some kind of allergy to bees or other insects, there is a small chance that consuming this material may trigger an allergic reaction. Therefore, it would be smart to consult a doctor before getting this natural product.
This is the first part about the effects of the said honeybees substance over certain people from the past and other sportsmen that decided to take supplements or tablets which contain this compound and managed to perform much better in their athletic field (by the way, the runners that you can see in the image above are not connected to bees products in any way, and it’s taken from the the telegraph which is a famous newspaper in the United Kingdom).