What is Royal Jelly ?
Royal jelly is a secretion of the honey bees that is used to provide nutrients to the adult queens and the larvae. The worker bees secrete Royal jelly from their glands located in their hypopharynx and feed it to all the larvae of the bee colony.
In the event of the queen bee’s death or its increased age and subsequent weakening, the worker bees decide to make a new queen bee. They choose a number of tiny larvae and provide them with large amounts of royal jelly in specially built queen cells. Such continuous feeding of Royal jelly results in the formation of queen bee characteristics which includes the development of complete ovaries capable of laying eggs.
History of Royal Jelly
Royal jelly is fed to all the larvae, whether they be workers, drones or queen bees. However, the workers bees stop feeding the drones and workers bees with Royal jelly after three days, but continue to feed the queen larvae till they are fully developed.
Humans harvest royal jelly by creating colonies with movable hive frames so as to produce several queen bees. When the queen larvae are about four days old, the Royal jelly is collected from their cells, because only such cells have excess quantities of Royal jelly. This is because worker larvae consume it directly, whereas queen larvae have excess quantities of Royal jelly that cannot be consumed immediately. The Royal jelly thus collected is then stored in cold storage as they are perishable.
There are several Royal jelly benefits as well as Royal jelly side effects which are discussed below.
Health benefits of Royal Jelly
- Royal jelly is most often used as a natural supplement and booster for energy. It also promotes endurance and stamina as well as long term energy benefits.
- Some studies indicate that Royal jelly can be used to treat hormonal imbalance, reproductive system and fertility problems and provide libido assistance
- Royal jelly has antioxidant properties that can aid the immune system to counter various ailments such as cold, flu, etc and the elimination of harmful toxins from the body.
- Research indicates that there are many Royal jelly benefits such as the lowering of cholesterol and it being an agent of anti-aging, wound-healing, anti-inflammatory and antibiotic activities.
- Natural beauty and skin care products also use Royal jelly as an active ingredient
Side effects of Royal Jelly
- Humans may have several Royal jelly side effects such as allergic reactions to its consumption that may result in symptoms such as hives, rashes, etc
- Some severe cases of Royal jelly side effects may result in breathing problems and asthma to even life threatening conditions such as anaphylaxis.
- Some individuals may experience an upset stomach or internal bleeding due to Royal jelly consumption
- Sometimes, Royal jelly may interfere with the functionality of certain prescription medications such as cholesterol controlling drugs. Another possible Royal jelly side effect is weight gain. Hence, it is best to consult a doctor before using Royal jelly.
The composition of Royal Jelly includes 67 percent water, small amounts of different amino acids, 2.5 percent crude protein, 5 percent of fatty acids, many trace minerals, 11 percent simple sugars, some enzymes, trace amounts of vitamin C and antibiotic and antibacterial components
For every 100 grams, here is the nutritional information in Royal jelly:
25 g of carbohydrate
313 calories
12.5 g of fat
5 g of protein
