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It seems more and more people are talking about pine pollen benefits these days. Well, that’s to be expected since whenever there’s something that supposedly offers a variety of health benefits, people get excited about the possibilities that come with it.
Still, as many have realized firsthand, not all supplements can offer actual, noticeable results. Because of this, we have looked into these so-called claims about pine tree pollen to determine which have any sound scientific basis.
And, what we’ve found is quite surprising for something that is commonly found in North America but has not been used in Native American herbalism (though it’s been part of traditional Chinese medicine). Here are the most important and interesting benefits of pine pollen we’ve found:
1. Boosts DHEA Levels
Pine pollen contains significant amounts of the hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Being a precursor, it is essential to the production of testosterone (though it also drives estrogen production).
Supplementing with external sources of DHEA has been found to benefit those with insufficient sex hormone production. For men, this can improve sexual dysfunction due to low free testosterone levels, helping to improve low sex drive and erectile dysfunction.
Moreover, it can alleviate problems that are typically associated with old age, such as bone loss, decreased cognitive ability, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, increased cardiovascular disease risk, increased inflammation, and skeletal muscle atrophy.
2. Optimizes Hormone Production
Aside from providing your body with the precursor to testosterone, pine pollen also supplies you with magnesium which supports optimal hormone production.
Sufficient magnesium intake, through diet or supplementation, improves the male gonadal system. This leads to increased secretion of sex hormones,including DHEA and testosterone—and, as intake becomes consistent over a longer period, hormone secretion improves in like manner.
Aside from this, magnesium can help with the management of cortisol levels in your body, which can prevent further hormonal disruption of thyroid and sex hormones.
3. Provides Loads of Potassium
Pine pollen powder contains a substantial amount of potassium.
This mineral plays a crucial role in maintaining normal brain function. It does this by protecting your neuron synapses, and maintaining your brain’s ability to learn and retain memory.
The benefit of potassium on your neurons extends to the nerves found in your muscles.
Your muscles contain nerves that are essential in prompting contraction and relaxation. By keeping these nerves healthy, your reflexes stay at the highest level.
And don’t forget—potassium works synergistically with other vitamins and nutrients, making it even more important to ensure you get enough of this vital nutrient.
4. Supplies the Body With Phytoandrogens
Phytoandrogens are substances that induce similar effects as the androgen produced by your body. Pine pollen powder has been found to contain such a substance, which initial tests have indicated are quite promising so far.
It has been found that test subjects deficient in androgenic hormones have experienced improvements in their conditions with pine pollen supplementation. These improvements have been close to those induced by hormone replacement therapy with testosterone undecanoate, in similar cases of deficiency.
Pine Pollen presents an attractive option for natural androgenic replacement therapy, and without associated adverse effects.
5. Supplies an Assortment of Amino Acids
Your body needs amino acids to fuel your metabolism, protect your cells mitochondria, and to facilitate growth and repair of your body’s tissues. Out of the twenty amino acids, nine are categorized as essential amino acids (EAA).
EAAs cannot be synthesized by the body and can only be obtained from dietary sources—with pine pollen powder containing eight of these nine essential amino acids.
Aside from having EAAs, it also contains the following non-essential amino acids: alanine, arginine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glycine and glutamic acid.
6. Helps Prevent Liver Fibrosis
Liver or hepatic fibrosis is the scarring of liver tissues that result from its inflammation or injury. The scarring of these tissues negatively affects liver function and could eventually lead to liver cirrhosis.
Initial research has shown that pine pollen inhibits this scarring, even when intentional damage is inflicted on the liver. This is due to a combination of antioxidant activity, cytokine inhibition, collagen synthesis, and decreased gene expression.
Alleviating liver fibrosis is crucial as it can lead to fatal complications if left unchecked. Examples of these complications are fluid and waste build-up in the body, variceal bleeding, and hepatorenal syndrome.
7. Promotes Toxin and Free Radical Neutralization
Pine pollen increases the levels of superoxide dismutase in the blood. Like other potent antioxidants, this enzyme aids in the neutralization of harmful oxygen molecules (free radicals) that can damage tissue.
It also inhibits the oxidative degradation of lipids found in the bloodstream, cell membranes, and fat cells. If this degradation is left unobstructed, it can create carcinogenic and mutagenic compounds that ultimately cause cellular damage.
Aside from these, pine pollen also increases your body’s levels of glutathione transferases. This aids in the breakdown and removal of environmental pollutants that your body has absorbed and the metabolites produced by oxidative damage.
8. Slows the Aging Process
Due to the presence of the amino acid arginine and the sulfur compound methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), pine pollen powder can help alleviate the signs of skin aging.
This effect is thanks to these two substances boosting your body’s production of keratin, collagen, and nitric oxide. These three products can help retain the elasticity, firmness, and smoothness of skin.
9. Enhances Immunity to Viruses
Pine pollen powder contains natural polysaccharide compounds, which have been found capable of fighting a variety of viruses such as Herpes-1 and measles.
At a dose of 100 to 400 milligrams (standardized Polysaccharde content), the supplement significantly increases immune system response. The ideal recommended dose of pine pollen polysaccharides, however, is 400 milligrams, as it's at this dose that the elicited immune response was strongest.
Whether you’re planning to take raw pine pollen from a pine tree, or you’re going pick something in tincture form, you’ll be getting a lot from a single product. As long as you monitor your testosterone when taking it and keep an eye out for possible drug interactions, pine pollen is simply too good to pass up.
Given the impressive variety of pine pollen benefits, it’s safe to say that this supplement would be an excellent addition to your daily health regimens—and besides, it’s a much better choice than those risky synthetic anabolic-androgenic steroids anyway!
Is taking Pine Pollen contraindicated with regular synthetic testosterone replacement injections? Please let me know BEFORE I begin using your purchased product. Thankyou.
I don’t think it is contraindicated.
It is NOT contraindicated, but it theoretically makes little sense. If you are using TRT there’s no real need for pine pollen, as the levels achieved via administration of the testosterone are supraphysiological and will far overshadow that of pine pollen.
How much pine pollen do I take daily?