Royal Jelly – Better than Aspirin?
Royal jelly is a natural product that comes from bees. It has many health benefits, and one of them is anti-inflammation, similar to aspirin. With things like aspirin and acetaminophen having side effects like liver toxicity, many people wonder if it is a healthier and safer option.
Studies show that the reduction of inflammation and pain isn’t just a placebo effect, and some studies show that royal jelly can be a safer replacement for aspirin. It is weight-dependent, so each person’s dosage will be a little different.
What Is Royal Jelly?
Royal jelly comes from bees. Specifically, it comes from honey bees. It is used to provide nutrients to the queens and larvae. It is not an easy process to harvest royal jelly. Most bees ingest it directly, leaving none to harvest. The only option is to harvest it from the stores for the queen.
Over five or six months, about 500g can be harvested from one hive, and the royal jelly doesn’t last very long, so it has to be frozen or mixed with a preservative.
Royal Jelly is made from about:
- 67% water
- 12.5% protein
- 11% simple sugars
- 6% fatty acids
- 3.5% HDA
- Trace minerals, vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B8, B9 and vitamin C.
There are no traces of vitamins that are fat soluble, such as A, D, E, or K.
Can Royal Jelly Be Better Than Aspirin?
Like aspirin, royal jelly has strong anti-inflammatory properties. However, it doesn’t have side effects like liver toxicity and gut issues. Many people wonder if this is as strong as aspirin and if it can be used instead.
Studies were finally conducted on the benefits and found that royal jelly can be just as effective, if not more so, than aspirin. However, it is weight-dependent. For example, for someone weighing about 150 pounds, about 3500 milligrams would be required. Since you can get royal jelly in 1000 milligram capsules, you could potentially take 3 to 4 of these capsules and see a difference in your pain and inflammation.
Other Health Benefits of Royal Jelly
Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory
Many people have stated that using royal jelly has reduced stress levels and inflammation in the body. There are ingredients in royal jelly that do have antioxidant properties and anti-inflammatory properties, so it is possible that royal jelly can help.
Regulates Blood Sugar
Blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity can be benefited from royal jelly. One study showed that blood sugar could be reduced by as much as 20%. Additionally, benefits to the pancreas and liver, as well as those dealing with obesity and diabetes were noted.
Supports Healthy Brain Function
Royal jelly can also help those with high levels of stress hormones and low reactions from their central nervous symptoms. It also has the potential to increase memory and may remove chemical deposits associated with Alzheimer’s.
Reduce Heart Disease
In studies containing both animals and people, there have been positive results showing that royal jelly can help with lowering cholesterol levels. Some levels of bad cholesterol have been reduced by as much as 28%.
Can Assist in Healing Wounds
Since royal jelly has antibacterial properties, it can help to prevent infections in wounds and allow them to heal quicker. It can be used topically or orally to get these benefits.
In addition to wounds, it can help with many other skin conditions. Small studies in tubes have shown increased tissue repair when royal jelly is used.
Can Lower Blood Pressure
There haven’t been many tests done yet, but based on other benefits of the royal jelly as well as how other bee products help the human body, there is a chance that it has the potential to lower blood pressure.
Immune System
Like other bee products such as honey, propolis, and pollen, royal jelly has the potential to help reduce allergies. Specifically, this works with environmental allergies. By taking royal jelly of bees local to your area, you can get small amounts of allergens and build up your immunity.
However, royal jelly has another benefit to allergies as well. Some tests have shown that taking royal jelly can help increase the body’s immune responses to both bacteria and viruses.
Helps Assist Cancer Treatment
While royal jelly doesn’t help treat cancer, it can reduce the side effects of cancer treatments like chemotherapy. Some of these side effects include heart failure, GI problems, and inflammation.
According to studies, heart damage specifically was reduced with the use of royal jelly. In a small human study, it has also been found to reduce or prevent mucositis which is ulcers in the digestive tract.
Dry Eyes
When taken orally, studies have shown that chronic dry eye problems can be reduced with royal jelly. There have been tests on both animals and people that show that bee products can increase the number of tears produced.
Anti-Aging
Royal jelly has been shown to increase cognitive performance and increase lifespan when used orally. When rubbed onto the skin, it has been shown to increase elasticity and reduce wrinkles, creating skin that looks younger.
Additionally, royal jelly can increase collagen and protect from UV radiation exposure.
Menopause
Royal jelly has been found to help reduce depression and improve memory, specifically in rats that were postmenopausal in animal studies. However, it has also been tested on people, and it has been found to also have beneficial uses for anxiety and back pain.
For these tests with people, about 800 milligrams daily were given.
Ways to Take Royal Jelly
There are a few ways to take royal jelly. You can take it as a dietary supplement, which is usually in a powder, capsule, or gel substance. You can also apply it topically. It is found as an addition to a couple of skin-care products but isn’t super available yet.
Since it is not an official medication or health supplement, there is no specific dosage for royal jelly. However, most people tend to find anywhere between 300 and 6,000 milligrams daily is a good amount.
Side Effects of Royal Jelly
Most of the side effects of royal jelly relate to allergies. If one has allergies to bees or bee products, they should avoid royal jelly. Hives, asthma, and even anaphylaxis are possible. Additionally, many people tend to be more allergic to royal jelly than other allergens of bee products. So even if you don’t think you are allergic to bees or their byproducts, it is best to take royal jelly with care.
Additionally, pesticides from plants where the bees go to harvest pollen can also be mixed into the royal jelly. Some people have sensitivities to pesticides and can have an allergic reaction from using royal jelly.
Besides these possible allergic reactions, there seem to be no bad side effects from the use of royal jelly.
Always take new products in small amounts with minimal applications on the skin or with the minimum dosage to start. This can show if you have negative reactions to them while reducing the risks of a deadly reaction. There is a minimal risk to using royal jelly and a lot of positive benefits, which can benefit a wide majority of people.
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Where are best resources for royal jelly found, cost, quality, availability and any other pertinent info?
Years ago I used Draper’s Super Bee Apiary, in Millerton, PA, with good results (they insisted on process and quality) I believe freeze dried).
Great questions. I too would be interested in answers
Me too. However, only need lower blood sugar.
I buy honey from them a lot of great stuff. Dark Wildflower honey is my favorite..
GloryBee.com royal jelly. Bought from other companies in the past, they have the best prices, great product!
Purchase the non freeze dried (choice of organic or non organic) sent to you refrigerated. Using it for 20+ years!
Hi Mike,
I’m afraid we cannot make any specific recommendations regarding this. It is best to buy from a local supplier, as the author of this article suggested.
Many blessings and good health!
I looked at reviews for different brands of royal jelly on Amazon and didn’t see any that specifically mentioned pain relief. One said she got hot flashes and started spotting, not something I want to experience. Most just mentioned increased energy. Does it matter if it’s local, like honey?
Doesn’t that harm the bees taking what their queens need? They are struggling to survive as it is these days. I’ve heard where bee keepers take honey and then replace that with sugar water for them to use as food. That’s just wrong IMO. Doesn’t that make use parasitic? Taking so much we harm the hosts. Maybe you & I wouldn’t do that, but we know these companies that sell these products have no compassion or shame.
There is only one queen bee per bee colony, but I’m not sure if the worker bees feed the queen bee royal jelly. I do know that when the nectar flow (lots of flowers usually spring and summer) is high and the bee hive or colony becomes over populated (spring and summer time) the colony starts making many queen cells. The queen bee deposits an egg into the queen cell and the emerging larva is fed royal jelly. The larger queen cell and royal jelly enables the larva to develop and pupate. When the queen larva is ready to pupate the worker bees cap the queen cell since the pupa does not eat but transform into a queen bee. The emerging queen bee chews it’s way out of the queen cell and swarms with many worker bees to form a new colony. Since a bee colony only has one queen, other emerging queen bees (if they remain in the hive) will be killed by the existing queen. Beekeepers can introduce many man made queen cups into a strong hive and the queen bee will lay an egg into each introduced cup. The worker bees will then fill the queen cups with royal jelly. The beekeeper can harvest the royal jelly from the introduced queen cells.
Generally the bee hives are fed sugar water during late fall and winter when there are no flowers (no nectar flow) for the bees to collect nectar to convert into honey for bees to overwinter. This is because the beekeeper harvest the honey for us to purchase (by harvesting the excess honey I guess we are “parasites”). Providing sugar water (or honey if the beekeepers has excess honey) allows the hive to be strong, healthy and provides the bees a head start when spring comes along and there is a good nectar flow to produce more honey and pollen for the cycle to begin again.
Thank you for this great information.
I agree with you. Greed, that’s what it’s all about.
Dear lost herbs,
Thank you for sharing the amazing benefits of Royal jelly.
I gave worked with Royal jelly for years and have it in my skincare products. I see amazing results with my eczema and arthritic clients alongside it’s anti ageing benefits.
As it is difficult to source Royal jelly skin care maybe you could point your customers to
http://Www.chubbybee.com.au
The products can be found in the USA and Australia .
Thank you fir all of your incredible guidance with all things natural.
Karyn 🌻🐝
Most small, LOCAL beekeepers use methods that do not harm their bees as they are their livelihood.
I always recommend you choose local if you can. The benefits of using local honey/pollen/royal jelly are because they help issues from that same area..like if you suffer from allergies. Plus, the ‘carbon footprint’, shipping, packaging, etc. are much better for the environment.
Just be aware: GloryBee Honey sources form all over the world, and most of it is not organic (hard to tell a bee to forage in organic areas only!) But local beekeepers can use the large organic farmlands that they have around them, ensuring that the products is from ‘organic’ sources. I get mine from about 10 miles away, and they use their own organic farmland to harvest from. (They have a farm stand selling their own organic produce and farm fresh chicken, duck and quail eggs.)
PS: don’t bother with quail eggs: too much trouble for so little!
A little concerning. Be sure the place you are getting it from is regenerative and not just taking it all from the bees. The bees need royal jelly to feed their queen and their brood. How is this harvested?
Leave the royal jelly for the bees