Amino Acids and Pine Pollen

Pine Pollen + Nutrition as Holism

As we have written elsewhere, it is impossible to divorce the medicinal properties of Pine Pollen from its nutritional properties. Just as herbal medicine requires a more holistic view of the relationship between the body, mind, health, and the environment, so must we also have a more holistic view of the herbs themselves. All too often we try and reduce natural medicine and medicinal herbs into the same kind of abstract, reductionist thinking present in Western allopathic medicine--the exact same mind set we are trying to find alternatives to.

In applying a more holistic view towards Pine Pollen as a medicinal herb, it is important to both understand and appreciate the power that the comprehensive amino acid profile awards. Pine Pollen contains over 20 different amino acids, including all of the essential and conditionally essential amino acids. They are present in their completely natural and raw state, alongside their appropriate enzymes and co-enzymes. Amino acids have strong relationship with aging and anti-aging.

Stephen Buhner, who pretty much kicked off the interest of Pine Pollen in the US with his books The Natural Testosterone Plan and Vital Man, writes in Vital Man that:

"All these amino acids contribute to human health and well being. phenylalanine, for instance, is linked with neurotransmitters in the brain and strongly affects mood. Both phenylalanine and tyrosine and L-dopa precursors. L-dopa is metabolized into dopamine both the heart and brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter without which communication among the nerves within the brain would be impossible. L-dopa has also been found to increase sexual interest and activity and to facilitate erections in men. It is used for treating anorgasmia (a woman's inability to have an orgasm). Tyrosine is also the precursor for the important thyroid hormone thyroxine and the adrenal gland hormones epinephrine (aka adrenaline) and nor-epinephrine. Arginine is a precursor of nitric acid (an erection stimulant and vasodilator) and possesses wound-healing and immune-enhancing properties. Arginine boosts human growth hormone (HGH) release, improves fertility, and is a specific spermigenic, or sperm-producing, amino acid when taken in quantities of 4 grams a day."

We recently published a wide analysis of all the nutritional aspects of Pine Pollen and we are pretty proud of it. It includes a full break-down of the amino acid profile and even provides some context, both describing the importance of the amino acids and even comparing Pine Pollen to eggs in terms of amino acids.