Royal Jelly | Bee Pollen Blog

Archive for October, 2009

Taking bee pollen has been associated with increased energy and stamina, though we don’t doubt that, we should also point out that bee pollen is high in minerals and amino acids, so its benefits should reach beyond energy/stamina.
Of all the bee products out there, bee pollen is the most widely used in supplement form. Sure, honey is taken more widely, but generally it is used as a sweetener and not a supplement.
Though I’m using the term ‘supplement’ here to describe bee pollen as it is most widely consumed, it actually hasn’t been classified as a supplement by the FDA, its classification is still “food”. I strongly recommend that you consume it that way too. Don’t just take your pollen in capsule form, take it granulated and use it liberally on foods and in cold drinks. A teaspoon sprinkled on your cereal in the morning will deliver around 5 grams of bee pollen, and you don’t have to deal with a capsule or filler.
Many people ask about regional pollens and whether or not there is benefit to consuming bee pollen which has been sourced locally. Simply, if you take your bee pollen to help with allergies then there may be some benefit to consuming locally harvested product, otherwise any domestic pollen should be the same as locally sourced.
Another question relates to cost. How much should one expect to pay for bee pollen? It is actually available in many outlets at prices as low as $3.00 for 100 500mg capsules, maybe even lower online. Stay away from this junk, it is usually cheap, low-grade imported bee pollen which has been processed (capsulated) in Asia, and often doesn’t contain what is printed on the label.
There are many companies around who can provide you with quality domestic (USA) product and though they are a little more expensive, it’s worth every penny extra that you will pay.
Bee Pollen

The FDA is the only regulatory body in the USA that can stipulate recommended daily dosages of vitamin supplements, and so far, royal jelly and other bee products have not been assessed by the FDA, hence there are no recommended daily dosages for this or any bee product.
That said, people have been using royal jelly for its benefits as a health supplement for many years, so a ‘database’ of information regarding its use has been compiled. This is not a publishable database but merely a collection of opinions from different users of royal jelly products and other supplements that have not yet been scrutinized by the FDA.
The median seems to be between 500 and 1000mg daily. There are some companies, most notably Bee Alive who promote capsule strengths as low as 150mg. In my experience this is too low to have any real affect on the user. Then there are people who use a full teaspoon or more of fresh liquid royal jelly. That’s in excess of 5000mg in most cases. Remember when we’re talking about milligrams we’re obviously talking about very small dosages. 5000mg is 5 grams, about a teaspoon, and there’s no reason why that would cause most people any issues. We are after all talking about a nutritious substance packed with minerals, vitamins and not an order of deep-fried chicken wings!
But it is quite expensive, so there’s no point in taking more than you need. I’d stick around 1500-2500mg daily, our Total Bee Plus provides 2400mg from four capsules and that’s as much as we should need.

I’ve covered the benefits of propolis quite extensively here but I’m going to start to add more information about the benefits of propolis and other bee products at this Blog.
Propolis is often termed “bee glue” since it’s a sticky resinous substance made from a compound of bee saliva, bark, tree sap and other vegetation. It is used to repair damage to the beehive by sealing cracks and holes to prevent the ingress of outside contaminants. In that sense it is used to create a sterile environment within the beehive and to protect its inhabitants and the precious substances within.
Worker bees collect the vegetation using their legs and the substances are mixed with bee secretions during transportation and subsequent application to the hive walls.
Processing propolis is very different to the processes used for royal jelly and bee pollen. It is common to use an alcohol extraction procedure where the sticky black, tar-like substance is diluted in an alcohol base then extracted and dried. Propolis quite often has a strong acidic and pungent odor. We’ve had comments from people using our Total Bee Plus product saying that sometimes there’s a chemical odor and it varies from batch to batch. This is absolutely true but it’s nothing to be concerned about. It is the inherent properties and odors of propolis.
Another observation relating to propolis is that our combination bee products often have dark specs inside the capsule, visible through the tan colored capsule shell. Again, this is the propolis, it starts out quite dark and will darken, naturally, with age.

One of the questions we are asked most often relates to the debate of fresh liquid royal jelly versus powdered form – which is most beneficial, which is most nutritious?
First lets look at the facts.
Royal jelly, as we’ve discussed elsewhere, can be taken from the hive and processed or it can be taken from the hive and pasteurized, then further processed. It’s important to know which version of royal jelly you are consuming.
For example, if your product is pasteurized then delivered to you in liquid form, marketed as “fresh, non-lyophilized royal jelly” – well, technically the marketing blurb is correct, but what about the pasteurization stage?…don’t you think that applying heat to the substance would do great harm? We do, and it does.
Then, what about taking fresh, liquid royal jelly and lyophilizing it without any pasteurization. So we take the fresh liquid and we pass cold air across it to evaporate the moisture (water). What is left is basically a concentrated powder that has had no heat exposure other than cold air.
Now we have a potent powder with all the nutrients locked in.
Doesn’t that sound better than something which has been pasteurized and promoted as “Fresh liquid royal jelly”? well it is.

So be extremely careful and try to research and understand exactly what it is that you are getting.

Many of us know already that royal jelly is ‘manufactured’ in the beehive for the nourishment of the queen bee. We know that is is a creamy whitish/yellowing liquid, quite viscous and very volatile. Once it is removed from the beehive it needs to be processed quickly to prevent contamination and spoiling.
Some processors will retain the liquid in its raw state and simply freeze it, whereupon it can be delivered straight to the end user for consumption or to another processing facility for the next stage of its transformation into a health supplement. Many processors will also pasteurize the liquid, by applying heat, in the typical pasteurization format. This leaves a substance with questionable nutritional integrity. For certain it still has beneficial properties, but also certain is that it is now void of any live enzymes, which may be at the core of royal jelly’s benefits.
So either in a raw state or following pasteurization, it can now either be capsulated, bottled (jars) or lyophilized.
Capsulating raw liquid royal jelly
This isn’t the easiest of processes. Most capsules (and equipment) are designed to house dry powders. Capsulating a liquid substance generally requires the use of a soft-gel container, which provides a complete and air-tight seal around the royal jelly. It still needs to have preservatives added to extend its shelf-life, and these can vary. The process is quite difficult and generally results in a higher cost per milligram of substance. It also generally restricts the amount of active ingredient that can be delivered in one capsule, often to as low as 150mg.
Bottling raw liquid royal jelly
This is much easier than capsulating it, but passes the handling issue along to the end user. You now have a jar of fresh liquid royal jelly, perhaps 16 oz, and you need to keep it refrigerated and consume it quite quickly after opening. Some processors add fresh honey to the raw royal jelly to extend its shelf life.
Lyophilized royal jelly
This is a process where cold air as passed over the surface of the liquid to remove water. It turns the liquid into a powder form which is still just as nutritive as the original liquid, with the exception of H2o. Now it can be handled much like a conventional supplement in powder form, and it is usually capsulated in a 2-piece gelatin shell the bottled.

The key, regardless of which method you buy into, is to ensure that you buy from a reputable source and be sure to buy from a USA licensed facility.
We’ll be covering more of these points in much more detail in upcoming blogs.

Thanks

Having written a good deal of online information relating to royal jelly and what a powerful substance it really is (for your health), this is my first ‘interactive’ experience in sharing the information. I am hoping you will like what you read, become a fan of royal jelly and all that it represents, and of course, share your own experiences here at my blog.
Of course this would not be a complete resource if it were to focus on royal jelly only. Over the coming weeks I’ll be exploring bee pollen, propolis and honey and delving into what makes the combination of all four such a complete and nutritious package.
If interest is out there I would like to expand the information to cover topics such as bee keeping and get into the debate on Colony Collapse Disorder.
There are many interesting topics to cover concerning bee products and I’ll be doing my best to bring as much information to my readers as possible.