| Abstract
| - There has been considerable debate regarding the nutritional benefits of pollen and the propolisproduced by bees, although most contributions have lacked scientific soundness. This paper describesthe possible beneficial effect of their use in pharmacological products in cases of anemic syndrome.We studied the effect of these two natural products on the digestive utilization of iron, calcium,phosphorus, and magnesium, using control rats and rats with nutritional ferropenic anemia. Theaddition of these products to the diet produced a positive effect on weight gain; this fact couldconstitute a scientific basis for the application of pollen and propolis as fortifiers. They improve thedigestive utilization of iron and the regeneration efficiency of hemoglobin, especially during recoveryfrom an anemic syndrome. They also have a positive effect on phosphocalcic metabolism and maintainan appropiate level of magnesium metabolism. Furthermore, in iron-deficient rats, these naturalproducts palliate, to a large extent, the adverse effects of iron deficiency on calcium and magnesiummetabolism as a result of the improvement in the digestive utilization of these minerals. Keywords: Pollen; propolis; iron; calcium; phosphorus; magnesium; rat; iron deficiency
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