Ryan Fairweather

In my experience, pine pollen works more like the best adaptogen and tonics, rather than a medicine to "treat" and acute illness. And this is, in a way, backed by what Buhner has written--that you have to give the pine pollen time (2-3 months) and not expect overnight results. I find this approach to be the most healing and the most nutritive, and in like with a lot of the plants out there which build our systems rather than treat illness. Pine pollen is a supportive plant. For system building, I find a combination of the raw pollen and the tincture to be the best, taken every day for at least a month. This will produce noticeable changes in an adaptogen kind of way. Given time, pine pollen will become a daily standby. In my recovery from acute illness (a year on antibiotics and antiprotozoas in the treatment of Lyme Disease), I found pine pollen to be remarkable. So often in illness treated by Western Medicine, once the patient is "cured" they are kicked out of the office and left to fend for themselves. The problem with this, is that people are left feeling less well then before they were sick--this is an inexcusable option for me. The drugs I was taking, as all seem to be coming from conventional medicine, break down the system. That is how they work. You treat cancer by killing it, you treat infections by killing it. The problem is that these drugs and procedures are not highly targeted mechanisms, and they everything they come into contact with. For many, this is acceptable, and produces the intended results. They SAVED my life. However, I had, and continue to have, rebuilding to do. And for this rebuilding, pine pollen is integral, and I highly recommend it to anyone. As a huge disclosure, I like pine pollen that I'm now supplying it (not for profit), so my opinion is biased. I love it and I want everyone to take it. I hope this personal account sheds some light on the discussion. Ryan Fairweather RAW Forest Foods