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Royal jelly has been a traditional "health food" in many cultures, and like bee pollen, it is rich in nutrients. It contains numerous vitamins, 12-13 % protein (relatively high in essential amino acids), 12-15% carbohydrates, and 5-6% beneficial lipids, including the important fatty acids. Royal Jelly is high in the B vitamin pantothenic acid, recognized for its ability to reduce stress levels. It supplies the minerals calcium, copper, iron, phosphorous, potassium, silicon, and sulfur. Royal Jelly contains sterols, phosphorous compounds, and acetylcholine, which is needed to transfer nerve messages from cell to cell.
Worker bees make royal jelly, which is then fed to larvae until they begin to mature. Only the queen is fed royal jelly throughout her life. Largely due to their diet of royal jelly, queen bees are about 42% larger and live 40-50 times longer than worker bees, while producing more than 2.5 times their own body weight of eggs each day.

Benefits and Uses:
• Royal jelly demonstrates significant reduction in total serum lipids and cholesterol levels and normalization of HDL and LDL in some studies. At a dose of approximately 50 to 100 mg per day it decreased total serum cholesterol levels by about 14% and total serum lipids by about 10%.
• Royal jelly is strongly antibiotic. Its potent antibacterial protein, royalisin, is effective against against gram-positive (but not gram-negative) bacteria at low concentrations.
• One study suggested royal jelly may have wound healing and anti-inflammatory activity.

Optimal intake:
Royal jelly in the amount of 50-100 mg per day has been used in most of the studies on cholesterol reduction

Recent findings:
Royal jelly has exhibited immunomodulatory properties in animals, stimulating antibody production and immunocompetent cell proliferation in mice or depressing humoral immune functions in rats.

Safety:
Royal jelly can provoke an allergic reaction, usually in individuals with a history of allergies. Such reactions can be fatal. The first described case of IgE anaphylactic (allergic shock) reaction due to royal jelly was reported in 1995, suggesting it is rare.
Honey and royal jelly contain very little bacterial or chemical contamination, due to both the ability of colonies to eliminate micro-organisms in their environment, the physico-chemical properties of these products, and the role of bees in filtering chemical pollutants.

What types of royal jelly products are available?
Royal jelly is available in capsules or in its natural state mixed with honey and propolis. Due to its chemical complexity and the presence of co-factors and nutritional synergisms the latter may be the ideal form of consumption.

References

• 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
• Abou-Hozaifa BM, Roston AAH, El-Nokaly FA. Effects of royal jelly and honey on serum lipids and lipoprotein cholesterol in rats fed cholesterol-enriched diet. J Biomed Sci Ther 1993;9:35-44.
• Bariliak IR, et al. The antimutagenic action of apiculture products Tsitol Genet. 1996 Nov-Dec;30(6):48-55.
• Cho YT. Studies on royal jelly and abnormal cholesterol and triglycerides. Am Bee J 1977;117:36-39.
• Fleche C, et al. [Contamination of bee products and risk for human health: situation in France]. Rev Sci Tech. 1997 Aug;16(2):609-19. Review. French.
• Fujii A, et al. Augmentation of wound healing by royal jelly (RJ) in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. Jpn J Pharmacol. 1990 Jul;53(3):331-7.
• Fujiwara S, et al. A potent antibacterial protein in royal jelly. Purification and determination of the primary structure of royalisin. J Biol Chem. 1990 Jul 5;265(19):11333-7.
• Leung R, et al. Royal jelly consumption and hypersensitivity in the community. Clin Exp Allergy. 1997 Mar;27(3):333-6
• Liusov VA, Zimin IU. Experimental rational and trial of therapeutic use of bee raising product in cardiovascular diseases. Kardiologia 1983;23:105-9
• Vittek J. Effect of royal jelly on serum lipids in experimental animals and humans with atherosclerosis. Experientia 1995;51:927-35
• Fujiwara S, Imai J, Fujiwara M, et al. A potent antibacterial protein in royal jelly. Purification and determination of the primary structure of royalisin. J Biol Chem 1990;265:11333-37.
• Fujii A, Kobayashi S, Kuboyama N, et al. Augmentation of wound healing by royal jelly (RJ) in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. Jpn J Pharmacol 1990;53:331-37.
• Saikatsu S, et al. Physiologically active substances in the oral excreta produced by honey bee--effects of royal jelly on silkworm Ou Daigaku Shigakushi. 1989 Nov;16(3):113-6.
• Shaw D, et al. Traditional remedies and food supplements. A 5-year toxicological study (1991-1995). Drug Saf. 1997 Nov;17(5):342-56. Shen X, et al. [Effects of lyophilized royal jelly on experimental hyperlipidemia and thrombosis]. Chung Hua Yu Fang I Hsueh Tsa Chih. 1995 Jan;29(1):27-9. Chinese.
• Sver L, et al. A royal jelly as a new potential immunomodulator in rats and mice. Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis. 1996 Jan;19(1):31-8.
• Tamura T, Fujii A, Kuboyama N. Antitumor effects of royal jelly (RJ). Nippon Yakurigaku Z 1987;89:73-80
• Thien FCK, Leung R, Baldo BA, et al. Asthma and anaphylaxis induced by royal jelly. Clin Exp Allergy 1996;26:216-22.
• Vittek J. Effect of royal jelly on serum lipids in experimental animals and humans with atherosclerosis. Experientia. 1995 Sep 29;51(9-10):927-35. Review
• Xiao PG, et al. Immunological aspects of Chinese medicinal plants as antiageing drugs. J Ethnopharmacol. 1993 Mar;38(2-3):167-75.

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