Optimizing Metabolism

by Ingrid Kohlstadt, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACN

Bee Informed of the Health Benefits of Bee Gardens and Propolis

Introduction

The current plight of the honeybees doesn’t reflect well on the health of humans dependent on the same environment. What are meaningful actions that we can take? How does bee health affect the quality and human health benefits of honey, venom, pollen, wax, royal jelly, and propolis? In this Townsend Letter issue focused on laboratory testing, my column views the benefits of bee gardens, propolis, and “bio” from a scientific testing perspective.

Counting on Wild Bees to Boost Your Backyard Vegetable Harvest

Amidst the elegance of modern science, one of the most important tests remains “the count.” Whether it is the number of organisms on a microscope slide, gauze used in surgery, or people who ate the potato salad at the church picnic, numbers often make decisions. Entomologists are counting bees using sentinel hives across Maryland. Of note, the effort is crowd funded. With 30% annual livestock losses of any other kind, the government would be taking leadership. Dennis vanEngelsdorp will tell you more through his informative TED talk.¹ Dead bees aren’t only livestock losses, they are a pollinating force. For some crops such as California almonds, growers are counting on bees because the nonnative trees have become dependent on nonnative honeybees to pollinate them. Soybean farmers are counting, too. Even though their crop is technically self-pollinating, their harvest is more bountiful with bees.

However, honeybees are not likely to be the primary pollinators of your backyard garden. More crucial than butterflies, hummingbirds, and bats are native bees (400 of the 2000 known species of which are in my state of Maryland). Native bees are likely threatened, too. But how do we count them, since they are mostly solitary and ground dwelling? Under development is a lab test of soil to analyze bee DNA. For now, however, the most high tech analysis remains “the count.” There’s not even an app.

To increase your garden’s pollinating workforce try the following:

• Create meadow with native wild plants or simply “no mow” lawn.

• Native bees, of course, like native blossoms that they can see. Their spectrum is from ultraviolet (which looks white to us) to orange. Bees can’t see red, which is probably how red became butterfly and hummingbird territory.

• Bees need sand or some sandy dirt for nesting. My best backyard bee finds turned up in the children’s sandbox. There were no incidents, since most native bees don’t sting: they are vegetarian, in contrast with hornets, and have no hives to defend, in contrast with honeybees.

• Avoiding pesticides that would harm bees tends to improve both the soil and the nutritional merits of its produce. In general, the higher the concentration of microbes and bee DNA fragments, the better the soil quality.

Let bees inspire your backyard gardening – that’s a health benefit, too. Look at this amazing slide show prepared by Sam Droege of the U.S. Geological Survey.² Sam is supported by Uncle Sam: tax dollars for bee tax-onomy. North America has an estimated 1000 native bee species yet to be classified. So you might get to name a new bee species – imagine that, right in your backyard!

Microbiome Benefits from Propolis

Microbes that inhabit the human gut, skin, and respiratory tract are for the most part established early in life. But the relatively small changes in the human microbiome promoted by the environment around us and our food hold sway over our health. If I were invited to study the human microbiome, I’d implement a randomized clinical trial of bee propolis. My hypothesis is that the propolis used by colony-dwelling bees worldwide to protect honey and brood from harmful microbes can do the same for humans.

So I’ve consumed and tested propolis in any form that I could. First I put a wad between my cheek and gums just like the seasoned beekeepers. Then I moved to the more conventional: tinctures, extracts, candy, chewing gum, gumdrops, lozenges, cream, lip balm, throat spray, oral spray, nasal spray, mouthwash, body powder, toothpaste, and airborne diffusion. So what didn’t I try? I could only think of two, deodorant and natural hair coloring along the lines of henna but for those with blond hair. Here are the five products that have impressed me to include in that clinical trial:

1. Gumdrops

Propolia brand Gommes de Propolis, honey-vanilla flavor, are medicinal and delicious. Use them as a lozenge or chew them like a low-sugar gummy bear that isn’t so sticky for teeth. A pack of “gommes” goes in my carry-on luggage as part of my stay-healthy air travel package and are also a handy desk-drawer snack.

2. Oral spray

I keep the propolis oral spray in my briefcase as a breath freshener and I use it before public speaking to help my voice stay strong. My favorite is Propolia’s oral spray with propolis, aloe, and orange.

3. Diffusers

Aerosolized propolis is a welcome addition to apitherapy that I detailed in my June 2014 Townsend Letter column. I continue to recommend their bedtime use as a first line of defense for mold sensitivity, seasonal allergies, sinus congestion and upper respiratory conditions.

4. Cream

Propolia Active organic body balm with propolis, shea butter, and honey has earned the rank of first place in my topical applications for eczema (atopic dermatitis) in children and adults. Also keep it in mind for skin rashes associated with yeast infection, even athlete’s foot. Begin by applying the cream daily at bedtime. The nutrients that confer propolis’s healing properties stain yellow, which has been no more than a minor drawback. The Propolia brand lip balm can double as a cream to break the scratch/itch cycle. It’s easy to transport, and since it contains less propolis, it doesn’t stain.

5. Extracts

Extracts can serve as an antioxidant dietary supplement. They contain either sugar or alcohol but so do other treatments for cold symptoms, often without the benefits of propolis. The three in my medicine cabinet are organic propolis extract 20% and Propolia organic propolis extract 20% without alcohol for children over 3 years old both distributed in the US by Bee Healthy Farms. I also stock Brazilian green propolis herbal tincture made by BioPure. Add the extracts to tea for a hot toddy or use the no-alcohol extract to sooth a child’s sore throat. Avoid taking the extracts at the same time as a prescription medication, since propolis, as a direct result of its health merits, can change how chemicals are absorbed.

Good Reasons to Choose ‘Bio’

As bees gather pollen, they concentrate pesticides. The pesticide levels of pollen are not publically known. Silence should not be equated with safety, especially with US dietary supplements, generally considered to be a “buyer beware” industry.

Choose organic when possible for all bee products. In Europe, “organic” is called “bio” and held to criteria generally considered more stringent than those for “organic” in the US. One example is that in Europe, the wax for the combs is made by the bees. This is high energy output for bees, so farmers choosing the more economical route would give bees wax to reuse. The wax then accumulates the pesticides with each subsequent use.

Conclusion

Create some native bee habitat near your vegetable garden. Consider the benefits of incorporating propolis into your health plan; and when it comes to any bee products, choose organic or, better yet, use the European standard of “bio.”

Disclosure

Dr. Kohlstadt is the President of INGRIDients Inc., a consulting service for healthful nutrition. Among its clients are Bee Healthy Farms, whose products are included here.

Acknowledgements

Bee expert Sam Droege of the USGS, who spoke at the Natural Resources Group of the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C., and apiarist Dennis van Engelsdorp, who lectured at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Ingrid Kohlstadt, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACN

Faculty Associate, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Executive Director, NutriBee National Nutrition Competition Inc.

Editor, Advancing Medicine with Food and Nutrients (CRC Press; 2013)

Notes

1. VanEngelsdorp D. A plea for bees [online video]. https://www.ted.com/speakers/dennis_vanengelsdorp.

2. USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab [online photo album]. Flicker.com. https://www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml.