Bee Pollen: The "New" Superfood

By Mariah  Haddad

 Honeybee pollen can be collected in farms, as shown above
(Photo: Stephanie Nahalka Hendrickson)

The world depends on the honeybee to pollinate for not only its honey, but for our crops, livestock, and eco system. With all of these benefits, it is time to look into one of the most obvious of outputs of the honeybee: its pollen.

Bee pollen is an up and coming health food that is said to be responsible for improving endurance and vitality, adding weight during convalescence, fighting cravings and addictions, and building new blood.

“I started consuming bee pollen about three years ago,” said 43-year-old Avery Michaels. “I used to take several multivitamins and dietary supplements. Now all I take for my overall balance of health is one teaspoon of bee pollen with my yogurt.”

Michaels of West Seneca is one of the thousands of people who have hopped on the bee pollen train.
According to Food Matters, Bee pollen is richer in proteins than any animal source. It contains more amino acids than beef, eggs, or cheese of equal weight. These proteins are responsible for enhancing energy, boosting the your immune system, and supporting cardiovascular health.

Like bee honey, in small consumption bee pollen has been proven to reduce allergies, according to mindbodygreen.com. However, Dr. Bernard Sweeney, of Tri-County Health Care, advises to proceed with caution.

“Any time you are trying to treat allergies, it is important to contact your physician before proceeding. Bee pollen can cause serious allergic reactions that have the potential to be anaphylactic,” Sweeney said. “It is unsafe for pregnant woman and those who are breastfeeding. Absolutely contact your physician before you consumer bee pollen, or any supplement for that matter.”

Bee pollen is also used for skin benefits. It is loaded with “skin health” boosting substances including zinc, silica, and dozens of anti-oxidants and fatty acids, according to bee-pollen-buzz.com. It is also linked to anti-aging and treating dermatitis.

Bee pollen is sold at GNC, and can be found online. The average cost is about $20 per 15 ounces.
One teaspoon of bee pollen is equivalent to one honeybee working eight hours.

“Bee pollen is cheaper in a tablet form, however the compression of the pollen into a capsule can destroy the enzyme and vitamin C content,” said Timothy, who declined to give his last name, a Lockport GNC representative.  “It is a raw food naturally. With raw foods, you get what you pay for. It is worth spending the extra $5 to get raw bee pollen, compared to a bee pollen complex.”

Coconut Oil… Fact or Fad?

By Mariah  Haddad

 There are hundreds of ways to use coconut oil, with more being discovered each day.

(Photo: Mariah Haddad)

With popular celebrities including Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Angelina Jolie reportedly using coconut oil daily, the natural beauty product is hard to ignore.

Coconut oil comes from the flesh of a mature coconut. According to CoconutOilPost.com, there are two different types of oil you can purchase: the industrially manufactured oil that comes from copra, the low-grade, dried flesh of the coconut, or “Cold Pressed Virgin Certified Organic” coconut oil. The latter is recommended.

Cold pressed, virgin, and certified organic are all important when it comes to choosing your oil. Cold pressed is the term associated with the low temperatures used to dry the coconut naturally. Virgin oil ensures that your oil has come directly from the coconut and has not been refined, bleached or deodorized.  Organic coconut oil (is) made from coconuts grown without using artificial fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemical additives during the growing process.

NiuLife, a coconut oil distributer for over 20 years, states, “The Oil of Life” benefits your metabolism, weight loss, heart health, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, reverses aging, and it even good for your pets.

There are hundreds of ways to use coconut oil, with more being discovered each day. A stable cooking oil, substituting coconut oil in for your polyunsaturated fatty oils is a common way to consume it. Since the oil is a solid at room temperature, it may also be used in place of butter or margarine for a bread spread. 

Not everyone stands behind the coconut oil trend. Dr. Carol DeNysschen, associate professor and chair of the Department of Health and Nutrition & Dietetics at (SUNY) Buffalo State does not recommend using coconut oil daily.

“First, 92 percent of its fat is saturated,” she said. “That makes coconut oil far more saturated than most other oils and fats. Olive and soybean oils, for example, are about 15 percent saturated, while beef fat is about 50 percent saturated and butter is 63 percent saturated.” Only palm kernel oil, at 82 percent saturated, rivals coconut oil.” she said.

“All those saturated chemical bonds explain why coconut oil is solid at room temperature and doesn't go rancid quickly,” DeNysschen said. “That makes it attractive to many candy makers, who use it in chocolate, yogurt, and other coatings that don’t melt until they hit your mouth. It's also why some vegans—who eat no meat, fish, eggs, or dairy foods—use it as a butter substitute.”

Tara Peters, a 23-year-old Canisius College graduate, disagrees.

“Oil pulling makes me feel like I just went to the dentist,” she said. “I love the way it tastes in my meals and the way it feels on my skin. I even use it daily as chap stick.” Peters pulled out a pocket size tin of coconut oil from her handbag. “Oh, and it is great for split ends on your hair.”

Headaches… what a Headache!

By Mariah Haddad

About 14 million people a year suffer from daily headaches.

(Photo by: Sierra Haddad)

Millions of people worldwide suffer daily with the burden of headaches. It is important to find the causes of these aches, and not continuously take an aspirin for temporary relief. There are natural and holistic ways to not only ease headaches, but prevent them.

It is important first to classify your headache as a primary or a secondary headache. According to the Mayo Clinic, a primary headache is caused by problems with, or overactivity of pain-sensitive structures in your head, and is not a symptom of an underlying disease. The most common primary headaches can be classified into three types: cluster, migraine, and tension.

The Mayo Clinic advises that secondary headaches can be a symptom of an illness or disease that can activate pain-sensitive nerves in the head. Types of ailments that can cause secondary headaches are acute sinusitis, blood clots, concussion, ear infection, glaucoma, and panic disorder.

“I was diagnosed with chronic migraines at 9 years old,” said Xavier Washburn, a 27-year-old Attica native. “My whole life I have tried medication after medication with extreme negative side-effects, or no effect at all.”

Washburn hasn’t suffered alone. About 14 million people experience headaches on near-daily basis. 

How do you address the pain?

Washburn said he uses preventative techniques.

“I went to a specialist who practiced a very holistic approach to everything. When I told her about the amount of medication I was taking, she was upset." Washburn said. “She explained that oftentimes medication makes matters worse. The best way to prevent these aches is a change in my lifestyle.”

Lifestyle changes are a huge factor in your health.

Washburn began drinking more than 100 ounces of water a day, and started tracking his sleep and diet.

“It turns out I have always had a very high sodium diet, which dehydrated me,” Washburn said. “As soon as I started drinking what feels like excessive amounts of water, my migraines were fewer and fewer.” Washburn continues to follow a strict diet and is continuously trying new techniques, such as monitoring his sleep, to prevent his headaches.

What happens if you get a headache?

Melissa Foxx, a 38-year-old elementary school teacher, enjoys aromatherapy.

"Simply smelling my lavender oil or applying it to my skin starts to ease my pain immediately,” she said. “If I massage my ginger oil into my temples, it feels like it relieves all of the pressure in my mind. I begin to think clearer and focus less on the pain that I am feeling.”

Whether you have primary or secondary headaches, it is best if you have chronic pain to make an appointment with your doctor.

With thousands of causes of headaches, it is important to make an effort to prevent them, as well has a holistic approach to cure them.

Foxx said headaches have saved her life.

“Even though I use aromatherapy, if I see a change in my headache pattern I go to a specialist immediately."

In 2003, Foxx experienced a minor brain aneurysm.

“I just felt like out of nowhere I had this crazy migraine I couldn’t get rid of. Soon, I couldn’t even stand so I called my doctor.  I was induced and upon awakening I learned of my aneurysm.”

Foxx since then is careful to monitor how her headaches feel.

There is no “D” in Buffalo

By Mariah Haddad

Nearly 3,000 miles from the equator, sunlight is scarce in Buffalo. With dark and snowy months taking up about half of the year, residents of the City of Good Neighbors may be at risk for a serious, but easily fixed, health problem.

The body naturally generates vitamin D using sunlight making it a technically pro-hormone, not a vitamin. It can also be consumed by sunlight, food, supplements, injections, and vitamin therapy.

Dr. Jennifer Jennings, owner of Cardea Health in Cheektowaga, uses vitamin D to treat her patients.

 “In the winter months, it's impossible to produce vitamin D from the sun if you live north of Atlanta because the sun never gets high enough in the sky for its ultraviolet B rays to penetrate the sky,” Jennings said. “As the sun's UV-B rays hit the skin, a certain reaction takes place that allows the skin cells to produce vitamin D. If you're fair skinned, experts say going outside for 10 minutes in the midday sun, between 10 and 2, in shorts and both arms exposed, will give you enough radiation to produce about 10,000 international units of the vitamin.”

Maintaining healthy bones and teeth may be the most widely known benefits of vitamin D, yet those are two among many. Vitamin D also promotes a healthy immune system, brain, nervous system, insulin levels, lung function, cardiovascular health, and even influences the expression of genes involved with cancer.

 “Vitamin D insufficiency is linked to MS, cancer, cardiovascular disease, HTN, diabetes, mental deterioration in seniors and bone weakness predisposes to fractures,” Jennings said.

Though the “sunshine vitamin” is more efficiently consumed through sunlight, it may also be consumed through particular foods, such as fish, fish oils, mushrooms, beef, cheese, and egg yolks. 

“Vitamin D is critical to daily life,” Jennings said. “It is a blood test that I order on every new patient and I regularly follow this critical measurement. Especially in WNY, we are far from the equator and the reduction of sunlight predisposes one to vitamin D deficiency.” The test that measures vitamin D levels is called the 25(OH)D blood test. The test is very common, and most are able to request the blood test at any health care facility.

How much vitamin D is enough? Dr. Kenneth Seldeen is a research assistant professor at the University at Buffalo and has studied vitamin D for five years.

 “The department of medicine suggests ~1,000 IU/day for an average adult while most vitamin D researchers would suggest 2,000 IU/day,” Seldeen said. “In contrast, it is estimated that 15-20 minutes of summertime sun exposure would generate about 10,000 IU of vitamin D.”

Though vitamin D is extremely important, so are all vitamins to daily life. “Individual level micronutrients can be very important, especially in deficiency diseases such as rickets for vitamin D, scurvy for vitamin C, vitamin B12 for vegetarians and more,” Seldeen said, These vitamins can be taken as supplements when needed – in the case of vitamin D, on one of those gloomy days.

What is Holistic Medicine?

By Mariah Haddad

Thomas Edison once said, "The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease." The future is now, as holistic medicine is on the rise.

Acupuncture, massage therapy, and chiropractic medicine are all considered holistic medicine.

"Holistic medicine is really the practice of the mind, body, and soul,” Brenda Santucci, 47, of Mt. Morris, NY, who has used a holistic approach since she was diagnosed with major digestive issues five years ago. "It is medicine that exempts the use of pharmaceuticals."

Santucci tried everything, laxatives, reflux medication, aspirin, and other modern day methods when she was first diagnosed. After explaining her ailments to her coworkers, one had suggested that she try a tablespoon of olive oil in the morning. “That is when everything took a turn for me. I had no idea that something in my kitchen could relieve the pain I’ve had for years. I then started to look into holistic methods in every aspect of my life.”

According to Natural Healers, in 2012 about one-third of U.S. adults used complementary health approaches. Natural Healers defines complementary health as “a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine.”

Wegmans Food Markets exhibits a “Nature's Marketplace”, where the chain provides grocery aisles filled with vitamins, supplements, oils, and natural foods. Nature's Marketplace has grown over the years, expanding from one aisle, to over eight in a present day Wegmans.

Why have people been making the switch?

"You feel better altogether, without all of the negative side effects,” said) Teresa Olverd, a 22-year-old SUNY Buffalo State student. "You would be surprised what exercise, good eating, and a little yoga can do."

Buffalo Alternative Therapy, a locally owned alternative medicine practice, offers massage therapy and acupuncture services. According to its website, acupuncture is known to be effective at treating chronic pain, headaches, insomnia, menstrual cramps, back pain, depression, carpal tunnel, asthma, and even indigestion. “I love acupuncture,” Santucci said “I was really nervous at first, but after my first session, I was addicted.”

Santucci has tried countless approached to her health before she was introduced to the holistic method. Once she began practicing the holistic ways, she began taking vitamin supplements, practicing acupuncture, and massage therapy. She found that the combination of all three lead her to a new life free of laxatives and other conventional methods.