Blueberry, banana & bee pollen smoothie recipe

• 5 tablespoons frozen blueberries
• 2 frozen bananas (fresh are fine too)
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon bee pollen (remove this to make a vegan version!)

Simply blitz all the ingredients together in a blender or smoothie maker until smooth and then adore the fabulous colour and amazing taste!

 

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What are the benefits of bee pollen?

Never heard of bee pollen and wondering what its benefits are?  Read on.

 

Where do I begin with bee pollen?  This stuff is supposedly magical.  If it’s good for you, bee pollen more than likely contains it.  I read somewhere that if you were stranded on a desert island with only water and bee pollen, you should easily survive and may even be very healthy indeed.  Please don’t try this though!!

It is documented as being a complete food containing nearly all the nutrients humans need.  Gram for gram it contains more protein than any other animal source.  Bee pollen is full of vitamins including B-complex, folic acid, minerals, fatty acids and enzymes.

It is thought to be good for aiding digestion, improving skin, maintaining fertility, increasing energy levels, reducing certain allergies, strengthening the immune system, aiding weight loss, improving PMS, increasing physical stamina, soothing stomach problems and more and more.

It is possible to be allergic to it, so be careful if you try it.  If you are allergic to honey, bees or bee stings then definitely steer clear.  If you're unsure if you're allergic, then you can complete an at-home blood allergy test to find out.

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Is bee pollen vegan?

I'm popping back to write this part in 2020 as a vegan!  When I originally wrote this blog post I was a vegetarian and had no issues with eating byproducts of bees, but since turning vegan I have decided to not eat bee pollen, though whether it can be vegan is hotly debated.  Peta say bee pollen is not vegan as it is made by bees and is for bees.  It's not meant for humans!

However, there are others who remind us that some apiaries are created for the benefit of the environment and not to exploit bees.  Some bee pollen companies only harvest the fallen bee pollen that doesn't make it into the hive and therefore see this as ethical as the bees won't be using any of the pollen that they have dropped. 

I'm not sure how easy it would be to find this sort of 'ethical' fallen bee pollen and whether it really is ethical at all.  Perhaps it only is if the apiaries are created and left without any interference to the bees and no honey is ever collected.

Easily make this smoothie vegan!

Whilst I won't be eating bee pollen anymore, I will still be making this smoothie.  It's super easy to make this amazing purple smoothie vegan.  Simply don't add the bee pollen!