Honeybees do and make amazing things! We are all familiar with honey but in addition to this sweet nectar of the bees, they also produce other health promoting goodness that are great to include in your anti-cancer diet.
Let’s take a look!
Bee Propolis
Bee Propolis is made by honeybees through a fascinating process of mixing saliva and beeswax. These ingenious little buzzers use propolis to seal and protect their hives. Bee propolis is high in antioxidants containing various flavonoids, fatty acids, amino acids and a variety of vitamins.
Health benefits you ask?
Here are just a few.
Bee Propolis:
🐝 Aids in digestion
🐝 Improves immunity
🐝 Is anti-viral
🐝 Is anti-bacterial
🐝 Can be effective in relieving mucositis brought on by chemotherapy
Bee propolis is sold as a tincture, spray, paste or capsules so you would buy it in the form appropriate for what you want to use it for.
Chrysin is a polyphenol found in bee propolis (and honey as well).
Like many other flavonoids, chrysin has free-radical scavenging, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anticancer activities (Mani 2018). Although few human studies have been conducted with chrysin, animal studies and in vitro studies suggest that it may protect against DNA damage (George 2017) and modulate several cell-signaling pathways involved in cancer progression, including those affecting inflammation, cell survival, cell growth, new blood vessel growth, and metastasis (Kasala 2015).
Bee Pollen
Bee pollen comes from the pollen that collects on the bodies of bees as they go flower to flower.
It is a mixture of pollen, saliva, and nectar or honey.
Bee pollen:
🐝 Is a complete protein
🐝 Is full of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and lipids
🐝 Increases energy
🐝 May help to lower blood pressure
Bee pollen is available in most health food stores. They are tiny little gold nuggets and can easily be added to smoothies, mixed in with salads and sprinkled on top of yogurt.
Royal Jelly
Royal Jelly is a gelatinous substance produced by honeybees to feed the queen bees and larvae.
Royal Jelly:
🐝 Is rich in nutrients and anti-oxidants
🐝 May help to regulate blood sugar
🐝 Is anti-bacterial and anti-viral
🐝 May help to support a healthy immune system
It is most commonly sold in its jelly form or in capsules.
Honey
Honey is the most well known of the bee creations. It has a wonderful flavour and is a much healthier sweetener than regular sugar.
Honey:
🐝 Is a prebiotic food. It has oligosaccharides that can promote the growth of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria
🐝 Possesses antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, apoptotic, and antioxidant properties
🐝 Is the oldest wound-healing agent known to mankind
Carbohydrates dominate the composition of honey taking up approximately 95–97% of its dry weight. Honey also includes proteins, vitamins, amino acids, minerals, and organic acids.
Evidence has shown the presence of nearly thirty types of polyphenols in honey. Polyphenol levels in honey vary depending upon the floral source, the climatic and geographical conditions.
Sore Throat Remedy
Got a sore throat? Try this!
Mix together:
- 1 cup warm (not boiling) water
- 1 tsp honey
- ½ lemon, juice
Drink up to soothe your sore throat.
References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29161583/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5549483/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3985046/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31438508/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2221169115303233
https://mmed.mosuljournals.com/article_159191_aa1b9268093c56c786ff149a3fd30d26.pdf
https://academic.oup.com/fqs/article/1/2/107/3860141
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5424551/
