| Has news about bee pollen’s magical properties | | | | the arteries. |
| made you buzzing with excitement? Don’t pin your | | | | Other misleading claims are that it can strengthen the |
| hopes too high or you might be disappointed. Here are | | | | capillaries and dissolve blood clots, prevent cancer and |
| more pollen claims and the truth behind them. | | | | fight anything from colds, rheumatic fever, polio and |
| CLAIM; Pollen contains mysterious ingredients that | | | | tuberculosis. |
| boost an athlete's performance. | | | | All this nonsense began when a Hungarian named |
| FACT: Many athletes swear by pollen but scientific | | | | Szent-Gyorgi erroneously thought that an extract of |
| studies show it doesn't increase their performance. | | | | Hungarian peppers (that contain flavonoids) was more |
| This was proven in a study conducted at Louisiana | | | | effective than vitamin C in treating fragile blood |
| State University which involved members of a | | | | vessels seen in scurvy. |
| swimming team. Half of them who took pollen tablets | | | | The results of his mistaken theory were never |
| a day for six months did no better than those who | | | | duplicated and it remains to be seen whether |
| didn't take pollen at all. | | | | flavonoids like rutin have any use at all. Most of the |
| CLAIM: The best protection against common poisons | | | | rutin we get is destroyed by bacteria in the |
| is the ingestion of additional amounts of pollen. | | | | bloodstream. This means that buying pollen for its rutin |
| FACT: If pollen offers any protection at all, it is only to | | | | content alone is like throwing away your money. |
| those who sell this useless substance. It certainly | | | | As early as 1968, the Food and Drug Administration |
| protects the interests of its promoters and nothing | | | | said flavonoids were worthless for any condition and |
| else. | | | | sought to remove products containing this substance |
| Far from helping you, pollen might even be dangerous | | | | from the market. Sadly, they are still sold in health food |
| to your health since it can cause life-threatening allergic | | | | stores today even if their only use is to make the |
| reactions to those who are allergic to it. | | | | owners of these stores filthy rich! |
| CLAIM: Even if pollen had none of its vital ingredients, | | | | Neither is there any truth in the claim that pollen is a |
| its content alone of rutin would justify taking at least a | | | | rich source of rutin. One pollen product says it contains |
| teaspoon daily, if for no other reason than | | | | 16 milligrams of rutin - not exactly a good source |
| strengthening the capillaries. Pollen is extremely rich in | | | | considering that one glass of grapefruit juice has 40 |
| rutin and may have the highest content of any source | | | | milligrams while orange juice contains twice as much. |
| in the best and most easily assimilated form. | | | | "Tomatoes contain between 85 and 130 milligrams per |
| FACT: Rutin belongs to a group of chemicals called | | | | 100 grams. If you really want a lot, 100 grams of onions |
| flavonoids that give color to flowers, fruits and | | | | will provide between 100 and 4,000 milligrams," |
| vegetables. This means we already have enough of it | | | | explained Arnold Bender in Health or Hoax? |
| in our diet. | | | | In fact, a typical diet supplies 1,000 milligrams of rutin |
| However, some health food stores have come up | | | | daily. So why buy pollen to boost your body's supply of |
| with fantastic claims about rutin just to sell this useless | | | | rutin when you can easily get this substance from |
| sub¬stance. You've probably heard that it can cure | | | | other inexpensive sources? |
| varicose veins, high blood pressure and hardening of | | | | |