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The great bee debate
14th July 2006
At school I was always into a good debate.
Possibly I liked the sound of my voice too much. Or possibly it was because I had a crush on Vicky Pritchard, who would come to the debating society at lunchtimes.
One day we had debate about vegetarianism, and I was told to speak on the anti-veggie side.
A girl who had once snubbed my advances was there, as well as Vicky Pritchard.
At one point in my ill-informed, joke strewn speech, I declared that all vegetarians were “Dappy moon children from the planet Love'.
The girl who had snubbed me was a vegetarian. She snapped at the comment. Standing to her feet, she started ranting about how I was being a terrible narrow-minded bigot (and I was!) and how vegetarians were people too, and so on and so forth.
When she sat down, shaking with anger, I turned to her, smiled and said:
”It was a joke.”
For some reason, everyone in the room burst into laughter… especially Vicky Pritchard.
A Collins triumph! A week later, I was stepping out with Vicky Pritchard on my arm. Oh yes indeed. The debate had transformed me into a man!
Six months later, she dumped me for my best mate. But that's not the point…
The point is, I like a good debate. I've always welcomed opposing views. When it comes to the Good Life Letter, I'm a just a regular guy with an open mind.
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I'm willing to look at any viewpoint, or consider new evidence. Which brings me to the matter of bees….
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To bee or not to bee?
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It seems that my recent letter about bees (“How a bee can help every man over 40”) has stirred up a bit of debate.
Or should I say BEEbate?
No, quite clearly I shouldn't say that.
Anyway, last week my email inbox filled up with two types of email. Some were from people with stories of how bee pollen had helped them.
For instance, here's one from T.E in Canada…
“For many, many years I suffered from canker sores in my mouth”
(That's 'mouth ulcers' to we Brits!)
“Anytime I ate or drank something with citric acid, the next day I was plagued with canker sores. Some days they were so bad that I hardly eat or speak because it hurt so much.
”A few years back I was at a heath seminar and a nutritionist said that bee pollen would be the only cure for canker sores but one must SNEAK the bee pollen into the system. Starting with a very small dose and steadily increasing until now, I take one tablet a day.
”It took about 3 weeks and I took my bee pollen to the test and ate 2 oranges every day for a week (before bee pollen after one orange I would already have them nice canker sores) and, you guessed it NOTHING. No canker sores. It was heavenly.
“So, now I am hooked on bee pollen. But, should I not take the stuff for a length of time: Bang the canker sores come back!
“Just thought I share this bit with you. I know a lot of folks out there that have the same problem and it can be fixed so easily.”
Indeed, T.E and thanks for the email!
Another email said: “Read your letter on prostatic cancer with interest. We have been providing bee pollen for just this purpose for the past five years with some very interesting results. I am a bee keeper and my wife Susan, who subscribes to your letter, is a Nutrition consultant.”
So far, so good.
However, not all the emails agreed with me….
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The 'Bee' side of the record
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Some of you forwarded an interesting article by Stephen Barrett, M.D called “Bee Pollen, Royal Jelly, and Propolism”. It challenges the pro-bee argument very strongly.
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Barrett writes:
”Promoters call bee pollen 'the perfect food' and stress that it contains all of the essential amino acids and many vitamins and minerals. However, none of these nutrients offers any magic, and all are obtained easily and less expensively from conventional foods.”
Here he quots the CC Pollen Company of Phoenix, Arizona:
“It has been estimated that honeybee pollen contains over 5,000 enzymes and coenzymes, many times more than any other food…. enzymes in the body are not only necessary for perpetual healing and digestion but for life itself. Without enzymes, life is impossible. Also, enzymes protect against premature aging. It has been reliably stated that only honeybee pollen contains all known enzymes in perfect proportion and perfect balance.”
Barrett disagrees with this CC Pollen Company statement entirely. He says:
”Pollen does not contain all known enzymes, and even if it did, that would not contribute to human health. The enzymes in plants and other species of animals help regulate the metabolic functions of their respective species. When ingested, they do not act as enzymes within the human body, because they are digested rather than absorbed intact into the body.”
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A bee in his bonnet perhaps?
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Now, I'm not about to argue with his science. There's a LOT of scientific 'proof' out there that certain alternative medicines don't work.
But these medicines DO work on some people. Millions of people. In fact, there's too much real evidence to suggest otherwise. As saw from T.E's email, there's certainly anecdotal evidence from people who've been helped by bee pollen.
Whether it's psychological or not, if you think bee pollen gets rid of mouth ulcers, then you'll use it, no matter how many grumpy sceptics challenge you.
So what do we do? Wait for science to explain everything and give us the go ahead before we dare put a toe in the water?
Conventional science and bad drugs have already killed or harmed more people than alternative medicine ever will. Big pharmas and conservative sceptics want to repress ideas… they want you to stay sheeplike and obedient.
“Give me the drugs… tell me what to think… let me die on an operating table….”
Remember that Western science is relatively new to civilisation. In the East, many of today's alternative medicines have been curing generations for thousands of years.
Who are we to step in with our material ways and our causal view of events and say that something is definitely “wrong” - beyond all doubt?
Not me, anyway.
That said I wanted to keep you informed. Which is why I've quoted the article. You have the right to know ALL the theories and ideas, so you can go forth and try things yourself.
Bee-sides, I love a good debate!
Ray Collins
The Good Life Letter
PS: Sorry for all the bee puns in this letter. I couldn't help myself.
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