|  | Diet Nutrition | Nutritional Supplements

What Does Royal Jelly Do?

Royal Jelly burst onto the scene during the 1980s and has increased in popularity every year. This honey bee emission is used for nutrition of larvae in the bee colony and has been reported improve human health and fight myriad diseases.

  1. Function

    • Royal jelly, which is secretions from workers in the bee colony, is what is exclusively fed to the queen bee of that specific colony. Since she is the only one that reproduces eggs, she shares the jelly with the baby bees which turn into healthy, adult bees in just 2 to 3 days. This product has an amazing affect on these baby bees as well as helping the queen bee live 60 times longer than a drone. Because of this observation, people began culturing the jelly in hopes that it would also have a healthful effect on human beings.

    Benefits

    • Many people who have consumed royal bee jelly on a continual basis have reported their immune systems have become stronger, inflammatory diseases have subsided and their cholesterol levels have lowered. Full of B-complex vitamins which included vitamin B5 and B6, this product also contains vitamin C, amino acids and antibiotic properties.

    Benefits

    • Graves' disease, a devastating autoimmune disorder, wreaks havoc with the thyroid gland causing it to become greatly overactive. This increases a person's heartbeat as well as disturbs sleep; and it adversely affects sight and a great deal of other bodily functions. Royal Jelly has been tested on patients with Graves' disease and and the patients showed marked improvement.

    Effects

    • There is also evidence that this bee product lowers cholesterol levels if at least 100 mg per day is consumed. Researchers in Tokyo in 2007 tested the effects of jelly on this illness by giving volunteers 4 weeks of supplements. Their LDL cholesterol levels decreased considerably while their HDL levels were unaffected. For those people, royal jelly intake proved to be a great addition to a health regimen.

    The Facts

    • Sold in pills and capsules, royal jelly is rare and somewhat difficult to collect from bee hives which is why it is very expensive. Another downside for some is concern for the queen not having enough jelly for herself and her babies. However, considering that the worker bees produce much more jelly than one queen could ever use, it doesn't adversely affect the bees at all to harvest some which they quickly re-supply.

    Warning

    • Although this jelly can have great health benefits, it is very important that you realize that since this product is related to honey, bee pollen and bee stings, those that are allergic might have a severe reaction to royal jelly as well. It has shown to cause devastating allergic reactions such as rashes, difficulty breathing, swollen tongue and throat, severe congestion and bronchial inflammation. Therefore, it is recommended that those who are allergic to anything concerning bees not ingest royal jelly.

    Warning

    • Take precautions if you are a woman with estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer. Products containing Royal Jelly may actually stimulate the cancer. Also, side effects reported from Royal Jelly use are weight gain, face rash and stomach discomfort.

Nutritional Supplements - Related Articles