Do you have to soak the bee pollen granules?

by Samm

I just read on a web page that you have to soak or grind the granules. Is this true? Would capsules be the better way to go?

I don't use the granules on food, I just take it by the spoonful in the morning.

Angela's Response:

Hi Samm,
Great question. I've written about this topic on the site several times. Here is what I have to say on the topic. Hope that helps!

"I'm very interested in adding bee pollen to my diet, but I have read that most humans need to soak bee pollen for 10-12 hours to increase assimilation from 7-12% to +-90% after soaking the pollen(to crack the shell), according to the research of a certain Dr. Cherbuliez.

When the topic of how to take bee pollen comes up, I often get asked about pre-soaking. Dr. Cherbuliez is the Vice President of the American Apitherapy Society and his view about soaking bee pollen for optimum digestion is widely published throughout the internet. Dr. Cherbuliez is actually a psychiatrist who became interested in bee keeping and apitherapy and some sites claim that he has done research on bee pollen absorbtion. I have yet to be able to find or read the actual research and have no idea how or when he was able to measure the absorbtion rates of bee pollen.

Because of this and a complete lack of other research supporting Dr. Cherbuliez's claims, I am not totally convinced that soaking pollen for 12 hours is necessary for everyone. I do find that it helps those who have impaired digestion of some kind (those who suffer from Irritable Bowel, Crohns, Colitis, Gas & Bloating etc). It certainly won't hurt the bee pollen or you. On the other hand, it is well known that pre-soaking certain nuts and seeds helps those who have a hard time digesting them. So even though pollen is not a nut, it is food for thought. I personally believe that if you chew your raw pollen, the human digestive tract is quite capable of breaking down the outer shell of the pollen granule and releasing the valuable nutrients into your G.I. tract.