Royal jelly is a milky substance that is created by honey bees. It is named for its use by said bees in nurturing queens and during their growth it provides important sustenance that they need to develop healthily.
As a health aid, royal jelly is commonly used to treat asthma, liver disease, hay fever, pancreatitis, insomnia, premenstrual syndrome, kidney disease, bone fractures, skin disorders, cholesterol and more. It is also sometimes applied to the skin in order to encourage hair growth.
The Evidence
The question though, is whether or not royal jelly really works. If you’re familiar with the natural remedies and treatments, then you may have already guessed that many of the purported benefits are exaggerated or entirely fabricated.
There is no evidence to suggest that royal jelly can be used to treat asthma, hay fever or bone fractures.
However, there are certainly some promising studies surrounding royal jelly and you certainly shouldn’t write it off entirely.
For instance, royal jelly may have genuine benefits for combating breast and cervical cancer. Under specific conditions, it appears to be able to inhibit cancer cells by effect estrogen receptors (1, 2). Royal jelly may also have positive effects on blood pressure and menopausal symptoms through similar mechanisms and has more generalized benefits in reducing blood flow to tumors.
Royal jelly has also been found to be effective as an anti-inflammatory and may help to encourage wound healing (3). Royal jelly also contains a number of potent antioxidants (4).
Nutrition
Royal jelly is also a great source of nutrition and is rich in vitamins, proteins, fats and minerals. It contains calcium, copper, iron, phosphorous, potassium, silicon and sulfur and a number of natural hormones.
What’s also interesting about this honey is that it contains a number of ‘unidentifiable’ substances!
When you consider that the substance is used to provide nourishment for growing queen bees, it only makes sense that it would be rich in important nutrients.
Should You Use It?
So, should you run out and buy yourself some royal jelly? Sure, if you like it and you want something high in nutrients to add to your diet. But don’t buy it to treat asthma or eczema because that probably doesn’t work (and in fact, if you have an allergic reaction, it can actually cause similar symptoms!). Likewise, don’t start taking it for cancer just yet – the studies are in early stages and there are far more effective treatments already available (though it won’t hurt to add this to your diet just in case).
Healthy? Yes! Useful? Possibly. Miracle cure? Probably not.