Royal Jelly Helps Maintain Youthful Skin
This legendary product from the beehive is produced solely for feeding the queen bee.
Without it, the queen would be just another bee. In fact, when the eggs hatch, those who
are continually fed royal jelly will become queens. Those not fed royal jelly just become
worker bees. She is fed royal jelly her entire life, grows 40 - 60%
larger and lives about 4 to 6 years, while the worker lives about 6 weeks! Now add to the
fact that the queen lays 1-1/2 times her own body weight in eggs a day (about 1,500) and
you begin to appreciate this biological marvel!
Royal jelly contains all of the B-complex vitamins, including a high concentration of
pantothenic acid (B5) and pyridoxine (B6), and is the only natural source of pure
acetylcholine. Royal jelly also contains minerals, vitamins A, C, D and E, enzymes,
hormones, 18 amino acids and antibacterial and antibiotic components. It also has an
abundance of nucleic acids - DNA and RNA - the genetic code which makes up life. Gelatin,
one of the predecessors of collagen, is also found in royal jelly. Collagen is a powerful
anti-aging element that helps preserve the youth of the body, particularly the skin.
Many reports have been made, both scientific and anecdotal, regarding the benefits of
royal jelly. Royal jelly comes in a variety of forms -- mixed in honey, freeze-dried into
capsules and fresh raw, royal jelly. Studies have shown that once royal jelly is harvested,
it loses its nutrient quality after 48 hours. That means it is best taken in a
freeze-dried condition or suspended in honey, where its nutritional value is preserved.
For enhanced effects, you'll also find royal jelly blended into facial creams for direct
contact to problem areas.
The use of royal jelly in support of nutritional health is growing. Currently it is
used and recommended by physicians in the US, China, Japan, France, Germany, Italy,
England, and Russia. It is used for a variety of ailments, ranging from psychological
disorders to heart disease.
The usefulness of honey bee products for mankind is based on the
same properties that make these products useful for the bees
themselves. In the case of propolis these properties extend back beyond
the bees to the plants themselves which produce the original resins
that bees collected to become propolis. Quite simply, honey is an
excellent, stable sweetener and energy source for humans, just as it is
for bees; beeswax is a malleable plastic material, that in addition be
being an excellent material for molding, burns cleanly; venom is useful
because it causes pain and possesses a host of pharmacological
activities; propolis is anti-microbial toward bacteria, viruses, fungi,
molds, and possesses a multitude of other pharmacological activities;
pollen is a phenomenonally nutritious and well-balanced food that can
be consumed by people and domestic animals; and royal jelly has a
variety of moisturizing, emulsifying and stabilizing properties that
make it useful to people.
Royal jelly is a creamy product secreted by young nurse worker bees
for feeding to the queen, queen larvae, and other young larvae. It is
totally synthesized by the bees in the hypopharyngeal and mandibular
glands and is derived from the proteins and nutrients in the pollen
ingested by the secreting bees. Royal jelly consists of an emulsion of
proteins, sugars, and lipids in a water base. The proteins have no
particularly unusual properties and have the main presumed function of
providing the growing larva or the queen a readily digested source of
protein. The remainder of the composition, except the lipids, also
appears to be oriented toward providing a balance of nutrients for the
consuming individuals. The lipids are unusual because they lack the
normal triglycerides and diglycerides that are composed of fatty acids
having carbon chains of even numbers from 14 to 20 that are typical of
insect fats. Instead royal jelly lipids are composed mostly of short
chained 8-10 carbon hydroxy fatty acids or diacids. These compounds
have active functionalities at both ends of the molecule, are more
soluble in water than usual fatty acids, are highly acidic, and act as
good detergents and antimicrobial agents. It is this latter property,
antimicrobial activity, that appears to be the main function of the
lipids in royal jelly.
For humans, royal jelly possesses the appealing properties of being
a creamy emulsion that is strongly antibacterial. These make it an
ideal component of cosmetics and skin care products. Internal uses of
royal jelly are less promising, as all the antibacterial activities
disappear when the pH is raised to above 6 by the natural buffering
systems in the body (which maintain a pH of about 7.4). In fact, no
clear evidence from controlled experiments exists to support claims of
internal usefulness of royal jelly; that in conjunction with the lack
of a theoretical chemical basis for activity leads to the conclusion
that there is little future promise for pharmaceutical use of royal
jelly. Royal jelly is a highly nutritious material. However, its cost
precludes its use for any but the most specialized food products for
people or animals and its benefits are questionable. Recently, royal
jelly has been shown to cause serious reactions, including death, in
some individuals who ingest it. This indicates that both more research
into the causes of the adverse reactions, and caution in ingesting
royal jelly are needed.
"Bee Pollen Great Food -- For Bees," sums up the Food and Drug
Administration's position on bee pollen: "Under the law, since the
pollen has not been shown to be harmful other than to those suffering
allergy, bee pollen may be marketed as a food, provided no nutrition or
therapeutic claims are made or implied regarding it. Thus, if the
labeling (including pamphlets or advertising associated with the
product) does not suggest that it is intended for use other than food,
bee pollen marketed as a food need only meet the same general labeling
requirements as other foods, and be prepared, packed and held in a
sanitary manner." Those who claim bee pollen cures or alleviates any
illness or produces therapeutic benefit are promoting the product as a
drug. Recently FDA asked that all shipments of a particular product and
its promotional literature, advocating use of pollen in this sense, be
recalled by the manufacturer. Other steps may also be taken, including
seizure, injunction and criminal prosecution. Although this statement
refers to pollen, I feel a similar point of view should be held with
respect to royal jelly.
Beekeepers can be seduced by schemes that appear to be foolproof at the outset, but
when closely investigated, are fraught with problems. In the 1950s, Professor Frank
Robinson, now retired, from the University of Florida, saw firsthand the effects of one of
these phenomena. At that time, the royal jelly market appeared to explode with
possibilities. Profits were high and many beekeepers in search of quick gain borrowed
money and converted large portions of their operations to jelly production. The result;
the jelly market collapsed, putting many beekeepers out of business and forcing others
deep into debt.
Now comes the pollen boom, touted as a can't lose proposition by its promoters. After
all, they say, not only is the demand for pollen as human food at an all time high, but
also trapping pollen from a colony is beneficial to the bees, reducing swarming while at
the same time increasing honey production. Is all of this too good to be true? That's for
the beekeeper to decide, but more and more facts come to the fore each day, and all should
be carefully studied before a decision is made to go for broke producing bee collected
pollen.
Bees are exposed to various bacterial and chemical contaminants that might be
incorporated in products for human consumption. Although both bee pollen and royal jelly
contain substances with antibiotic properties, both can sustain the growth of
disease-causing organisms and neither has practical use as an antibiotic. Contaminants can
also be introduced during processing
Bee pollen and royal jelly should be regarded as potentially dangerous because they
cause allergic reactions. People allergic to specific pollens have developed asthma, hives,
and anaphylactic shock after ingesting pollen or royal jelly. Neurologic and
gastrointestinal reactions have also been reported. Some cases of asthma and anaphylaxis
have been fatal. The potential for serious reactions is widespread because at least 5% of
Americans are allergic to ragweed pollen, and bee pollen contains pollen from ragweed or
plants that cross-react with ragweed, such as dandelions, sunflowers, or chrysanthemums.
It has been speculated the presence of these allergens might enable regular users to
become desensitized (as would happen with allergy shots). However, the odds of this
happening are extremely small. Shots deliver the pollen in significant and controllable
amounts, whereas bee pollen taken by mouth delivers unpredictable amounts that get
digested.
Although honey bees and humans are dramatically different, they
share two fundamental features -- both are social animals, and both
live in highly complex societies. These features cause both species to
maintain more or less
permanent residences, to have developed specialized behaviors, to
engage in a diversity of activities, and to need for a multitude of
materials. Material properties and uses are governed by their chemistry
and vice versa. Honey bees need a stable food supply for long-term
energy and growth; people likewise need a stable food supply. Honey
bees need structural materials such beeswax and propolis to construct
their nest; people likewise have housing needs. Honey bees need
materials such as propolis and venom to defend against diseases and
predators; people have similar needs. Is it any wonder then, that since
antiquity, human beings have gone to honey bees as a chemical warehouse
of materials and foods. Honey and pollen are the foods that promote
health and well being in honey bees. They have served the same function
for people. Bees use wax to build their combs and people have taken
advantage of the wonderful chemical properties of beeswax to make
objects for their homes and daily lives and to coat and preserve
materials. Bees use propolis and venom to defend against microorganisms
and enemies. People also use propolis, sometimes in conjunction with
honey, for its antimicrobial properties. People use the same properties
in bee venom that drive off predators of bees to enhance human health
by fighting off some of their bodies' own internal enemies that cause
autoimmune diseases. Overall, much of the human application of bee
products can be explained on the basis of the chemistry of the bee
products. This is not to say that bee products should not be used for
purposes for which we have no chemical understanding; indeed, the
process has usually operated in reverse -- first, people discovered
uses for bee products, then later came the chemical understanding of
how and why the bee products were useful. Perhaps the message from this
is that we should look to traditional uses of bee products to guide us
in our investigations and to use research to discover how best to use
bee products and their components to improve human life. But for this
process to operate, individuals concerned with bee products must be
fair and honest in representing the legitimate uses and benefits of the
bee products.
See also: Bee Pollen
This legendary product from the beehive is produced solely for feeding the queen bee.
Without it, the queen would be just another bee. In fact, when the eggs hatch, those who
are continually fed royal jelly will become queens. Those not fed royal jelly just become
worker bees. She is fed royal jelly her entire life, grows 40 - 60%
larger and lives about 4 to 6 years, while the worker lives about 6 weeks! Now add to the
fact that the queen lays 1-1/2 times her own body weight in eggs a day (about 1,500) and
you begin to appreciate this biological marvel!
Royal jelly contains all of the B-complex vitamins, including a high concentration of
pantothenic acid (B5) and pyridoxine (B6), and is the only natural source of pure
acetylcholine. Royal jelly also contains minerals, vitamins A, C, D and E, enzymes,
hormones, 18 amino acids and antibacterial and antibiotic components. It also has an
abundance of nucleic acids - DNA and RNA - the genetic code which makes up life. Gelatin,
one of the predecessors of collagen, is also found in royal jelly. Collagen is a powerful
anti-aging element that helps preserve the youth of the body, particularly the skin.
Many reports have been made, both scientific and anecdotal, regarding the benefits of
royal jelly. Royal jelly comes in a variety of forms -- mixed in honey, freeze-dried into
capsules and fresh raw, royal jelly. Studies have shown that once royal jelly is harvested,
it loses its nutrient quality after 48 hours. That means it is best taken in a
freeze-dried condition or suspended in honey, where its nutritional value is preserved.
For enhanced effects, you'll also find royal jelly blended into facial creams for direct
contact to problem areas.
The use of royal jelly in support of nutritional health is growing. Currently it is
used and recommended by physicians in the US, China, Japan, France, Germany, Italy,
England, and Russia. It is used for a variety of ailments, ranging from psychological
disorders to heart disease.
The usefulness of honey bee products for mankind is based on the
same properties that make these products useful for the bees
themselves. In the case of propolis these properties extend back beyond
the bees to the plants themselves which produce the original resins
that bees collected to become propolis. Quite simply, honey is an
excellent, stable sweetener and energy source for humans, just as it is
for bees; beeswax is a malleable plastic material, that in addition be
being an excellent material for molding, burns cleanly; venom is useful
because it causes pain and possesses a host of pharmacological
activities; propolis is anti-microbial toward bacteria, viruses, fungi,
molds, and possesses a multitude of other pharmacological activities;
pollen is a phenomenonally nutritious and well-balanced food that can
be consumed by people and domestic animals; and royal jelly has a
variety of moisturizing, emulsifying and stabilizing properties that
make it useful to people.
Royal jelly is a creamy product secreted by young nurse worker bees
for feeding to the queen, queen larvae, and other young larvae. It is
totally synthesized by the bees in the hypopharyngeal and mandibular
glands and is derived from the proteins and nutrients in the pollen
ingested by the secreting bees. Royal jelly consists of an emulsion of
proteins, sugars, and lipids in a water base. The proteins have no
particularly unusual properties and have the main presumed function of
providing the growing larva or the queen a readily digested source of
protein. The remainder of the composition, except the lipids, also
appears to be oriented toward providing a balance of nutrients for the
consuming individuals. The lipids are unusual because they lack the
normal triglycerides and diglycerides that are composed of fatty acids
having carbon chains of even numbers from 14 to 20 that are typical of
insect fats. Instead royal jelly lipids are composed mostly of short
chained 8-10 carbon hydroxy fatty acids or diacids. These compounds
have active functionalities at both ends of the molecule, are more
soluble in water than usual fatty acids, are highly acidic, and act as
good detergents and antimicrobial agents. It is this latter property,
antimicrobial activity, that appears to be the main function of the
lipids in royal jelly.
For humans, royal jelly possesses the appealing properties of being
a creamy emulsion that is strongly antibacterial. These make it an
ideal component of cosmetics and skin care products. Internal uses of
royal jelly are less promising, as all the antibacterial activities
disappear when the pH is raised to above 6 by the natural buffering
systems in the body (which maintain a pH of about 7.4). In fact, no
clear evidence from controlled experiments exists to support claims of
internal usefulness of royal jelly; that in conjunction with the lack
of a theoretical chemical basis for activity leads to the conclusion
that there is little future promise for pharmaceutical use of royal
jelly. Royal jelly is a highly nutritious material. However, its cost
precludes its use for any but the most specialized food products for
people or animals and its benefits are questionable. Recently, royal
jelly has been shown to cause serious reactions, including death, in
some individuals who ingest it. This indicates that both more research
into the causes of the adverse reactions, and caution in ingesting
royal jelly are needed.
"Bee Pollen Great Food -- For Bees," sums up the Food and Drug
Administration's position on bee pollen: "Under the law, since the
pollen has not been shown to be harmful other than to those suffering
allergy, bee pollen may be marketed as a food, provided no nutrition or
therapeutic claims are made or implied regarding it. Thus, if the
labeling (including pamphlets or advertising associated with the
product) does not suggest that it is intended for use other than food,
bee pollen marketed as a food need only meet the same general labeling
requirements as other foods, and be prepared, packed and held in a
sanitary manner." Those who claim bee pollen cures or alleviates any
illness or produces therapeutic benefit are promoting the product as a
drug. Recently FDA asked that all shipments of a particular product and
its promotional literature, advocating use of pollen in this sense, be
recalled by the manufacturer. Other steps may also be taken, including
seizure, injunction and criminal prosecution. Although this statement
refers to pollen, I feel a similar point of view should be held with
respect to royal jelly.
Beekeepers can be seduced by schemes that appear to be foolproof at the outset, but
when closely investigated, are fraught with problems. In the 1950s, Professor Frank
Robinson, now retired, from the University of Florida, saw firsthand the effects of one of
these phenomena. At that time, the royal jelly market appeared to explode with
possibilities. Profits were high and many beekeepers in search of quick gain borrowed
money and converted large portions of their operations to jelly production. The result;
the jelly market collapsed, putting many beekeepers out of business and forcing others
deep into debt.
Now comes the pollen boom, touted as a can't lose proposition by its promoters. After
all, they say, not only is the demand for pollen as human food at an all time high, but
also trapping pollen from a colony is beneficial to the bees, reducing swarming while at
the same time increasing honey production. Is all of this too good to be true? That's for
the beekeeper to decide, but more and more facts come to the fore each day, and all should
be carefully studied before a decision is made to go for broke producing bee collected
pollen.
Bees are exposed to various bacterial and chemical contaminants that might be
incorporated in products for human consumption. Although both bee pollen and royal jelly
contain substances with antibiotic properties, both can sustain the growth of
disease-causing organisms and neither has practical use as an antibiotic. Contaminants can
also be introduced during processing
Bee pollen and royal jelly should be regarded as potentially dangerous because they
cause allergic reactions. People allergic to specific pollens have developed asthma, hives,
and anaphylactic shock after ingesting pollen or royal jelly. Neurologic and
gastrointestinal reactions have also been reported. Some cases of asthma and anaphylaxis
have been fatal. The potential for serious reactions is widespread because at least 5% of
Americans are allergic to ragweed pollen, and bee pollen contains pollen from ragweed or
plants that cross-react with ragweed, such as dandelions, sunflowers, or chrysanthemums.
It has been speculated the presence of these allergens might enable regular users to
become desensitized (as would happen with allergy shots). However, the odds of this
happening are extremely small. Shots deliver the pollen in significant and controllable
amounts, whereas bee pollen taken by mouth delivers unpredictable amounts that get
digested.
Although honey bees and humans are dramatically different, they
share two fundamental features -- both are social animals, and both
live in highly complex societies. These features cause both species to
maintain more or less
permanent residences, to have developed specialized behaviors, to
engage in a diversity of activities, and to need for a multitude of
materials. Material properties and uses are governed by their chemistry
and vice versa. Honey bees need a stable food supply for long-term
energy and growth; people likewise need a stable food supply. Honey
bees need structural materials such beeswax and propolis to construct
their nest; people likewise have housing needs. Honey bees need
materials such as propolis and venom to defend against diseases and
predators; people have similar needs. Is it any wonder then, that since
antiquity, human beings have gone to honey bees as a chemical warehouse
of materials and foods. Honey and pollen are the foods that promote
health and well being in honey bees. They have served the same function
for people. Bees use wax to build their combs and people have taken
advantage of the wonderful chemical properties of beeswax to make
objects for their homes and daily lives and to coat and preserve
materials. Bees use propolis and venom to defend against microorganisms
and enemies. People also use propolis, sometimes in conjunction with
honey, for its antimicrobial properties. People use the same properties
in bee venom that drive off predators of bees to enhance human health
by fighting off some of their bodies' own internal enemies that cause
autoimmune diseases. Overall, much of the human application of bee
products can be explained on the basis of the chemistry of the bee
products. This is not to say that bee products should not be used for
purposes for which we have no chemical understanding; indeed, the
process has usually operated in reverse -- first, people discovered
uses for bee products, then later came the chemical understanding of
how and why the bee products were useful. Perhaps the message from this
is that we should look to traditional uses of bee products to guide us
in our investigations and to use research to discover how best to use
bee products and their components to improve human life. But for this
process to operate, individuals concerned with bee products must be
fair and honest in representing the legitimate uses and benefits of the
bee products.
See also: Bee Pollen
- American Apitherapy Sociey. The Royal Jelly Difference "Healthy Cell News"
- Justin O. Schmidt. Bee Products: Chemical Composition and Application. Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, USDA-ARS
- Blum,
M.S., A. F. Novak and S. Taber, III. (1959) 10-Hydroxy-D2decenoic Acid,
an Antibiotic Found in Royal Jelly. Science 130, 452-453. - Yatsunami, K. and T. Echigo. (1985) Antibacterial Action of Royal Jelly. Bull. fac. Agr. Tamagawa Univ. No. 25, 13-22.
- Bullock, R.J., A. Rohan and J-A. Straatmans. (1994) Fatal Royal Jelly-Induced Asthma. Med J. Australia 160, 44.
- Malcolm
T. Sanford. Fact Sheet ENY-118, a series of the Entomology and
Nematology Deaprtment, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute
of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Publication
date: Revised: February 1995. - Fleche C. Et al.
Contamination of bee products and risk for human health: Situation in
France. Revue Scientifique et Technique 16:609-19, 1997. - Sanford MT. Pollen marketing. Fact Sheet ENY-118. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Feb 1995.
- Thien FC. Et al. Asthma and anaphylaxis induced by royal jelly. Clinical and Experimental Allergy 26:216-222, 1996.
- Shaw
D. Et al. Traditional remedies and food supplements. A 5-year
toxicological study (1991-1995). Drug Safety 17:342-356, 1997. - Prichard
M, Turner KJ. Acute hypersensitivity to ingested processed pollen.
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Medicine 15:346-347, 1985. - Yonei
Y. Et al. Case report: Haemorrhagic colitis associated with royal jelly
intake. Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 12:495-499, 1997. - Geyman
JP. Anaphylactic reaction after ingestion of bee pollen. Journal of the
American Board of Family Practice 7:250-252, 1994. - Mansfield LE, Goldstein GB. Anaphylactic reaction after ingestion of local bee pollen. Annals of Allergy 47:154-156, 1981.
- Lombardi
C. Et al. Allergic reactions to honey and royal jelly and their
relationship with sensitization to compositae. Allergologia et
Immunopathologia 26:288-290, 1998. - Leung R. Et al. Royal
jelly consumption and hypersensitivity in the community. Clinical and
Experimental Allergy 27:333-336, 1997. - Justin O. Schmidt.
Bee Products: Chemical Composition and Application. Published as a
chapter in: Bee Products: (A. Mizrahi and Y. Lensky, eds.), p. 15-26.
Plenum Press: New York. 1996
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