| Common name: |
Royal Jelly |
| Scientific name: |
Apis mellifera (honey bee) |
| Synonyms: |
bee’s milk |
| Parts used: |
Fresh or dried and powdered royal jelly |
Overview:
Royal is a thick creamy liquid secreted by special glands in the
“nurse” bees in a hive. All bee larvae receive royal jelly as their
food source for the first three days. Only a larvae designated to
become a queen bee is feed exclusively on royal jelly. This special
diet allows the queen bee to become sexually mature and able to
maintain the population of the hive. Royal jelly is made to feed the
queen bee only when a new one is required. Commercial collection of
royal jelly requires that hives be kept in movable frames to increase
the production of queen bees.
Active ingredients:
Royal jelly is a complex
compound and all the components have not been identified. Some of the
many health giving substances that have been found so far are:
- Amino acids including the eight essentials amino acids
- Essential fatty acids
- RNA & DNA
- B complex vitamins especially pantothenic acid and B-6
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
- Acetylcholine
- Antiviral components
- Antibacterial components
Traditional uses:
Royal jelly has been used in traditional medicine for a variety of health problems. Some of its uses are
- To stimulate the appetite
- A tonic for the entire body
- Enhancement of the immune system
- To retard the aging process
- Accelerate the healing process
- Effective in the treatment of parkinsons disease
- Arthritis
- Reproductive and sexual function
Clinical uses:
Clinical studies are reporting strong evidence that some of these
uses are valid. Studies have indicated that royal jelly has been shown:
- To lower cholesterol levels
- Shrink tumors in mice
- Help the body fight of bacterial and viral infections
- Reduce the trembling in Parkinson’s disease
Contra-indications:
People who are allergic to bee stings should not take royal jelly.
There have been two reports from Australia and Japan of deaths from
anaphylactic shock associated with ingestion of royal jelly. Women who
are pregnant or breastfeeding should consult a health care provider
before using royal jelly.
Drug interactions:
There have been no records of any interactions with royal and any medications.
Printed Reference Material:
- Cassileth, Barrie R. The Alternative Medicine Handbook. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998.
- Abou-Hozaifa
BM, Badr El-Din NK. Royal jelly, a possible agent to reduce the
nicotine-induced atherogenic lipoprotein profile. Saudi Med J 1995; 16:
337–42.
- Fujii A, Kobayashi S, Kuboyama N. 1990. Augmentation of
wound healing by royal jelly (RJ) in streptozoticin-diabetic rats. Jpn
J Pharmacol. 1990; 53: 331-337.
- Shen X, Lu R, He G. 1995.
[Effects of lyophilized royal jelly on experimental hyperlipidemia and
thrombosis.] [Article in Chinese.] Chung Hua Yu Fang I Hsueh Tsa Chih.
1995; 29:27-29.
- Szanto E, Gruber D, Sator M, Knogler W, Huber
JC. 1994. [Placebo-controlled study of melbrosia in treatment of
climacteric symptoms]. Wien Med Wochenschr. 1994; 144(7): 130-3. German.
- Tamura
T, Fujii A, Kuboyama N. 1987. [Antitumor effects of royal jelly.]
[Article in Japanese.] Nippon Yakurigaku Zasshi. 1987; 89: 73-80.
- Tokunaga
KH, Yoshida C, Suzuki KM, Maruyama H, Futamura Y, Araki Y, Mishima S.
2004. Antihypertensive effect of peptides from royal jelly in
spontaneously hypertensive rats. Biol Pharm Bull. 2004 Feb; 27(2):
189-92.
- Vittek J. Effects of royal jelly on serum lipids in
experimental animals and humans with atherosclerosis. Experientia.
1995; 51: 927-9