Royal Jelly | Bee Pollen Blog

Archive for the ‘royal jelly facts’ Category

I just wanted to share an email from a customer of ours, based overseas. We get asked some really good questions on bee products and their uses, and I thought I’d share this with blog readers since it raises some great points.

Dear Natural Shopper,

I am one of your overseas customer, and plan to use your products regularly, but also trying to buy fresh collected royal jelly from local producers here in Europe.
I have two questions:

1. The local producers refrigerate the collected royal jelly on the day of collection, but not immediately. They state that this does not affect the biological value of the royal jelly, since it is at about 35 celsius degrees inside the hive anyway, so being a few hours at room temperature does not really matter. Do you think that being at room temperature for a few hours after collection affect the freshness and health beneficial value of royal jelly ?

2. I have ordered royal jelly from you but I am also interested in royal bee plus. However, I feel like slightly allergic for bee pollen.
I mean, generally I am not allergic to pollens, but after tasting honey mixed pollen, I felt a tiny contraction in my lungs. Do you think it is safe to use your synergic product, or I should just stay with royal jelly. Can one feel a boost in energy level from only royal jelly, or this boost can be felt only with total bee plus. Are there any testimonials from people who used only royal jelly and not total bee plus ?

Reply to email -

Dear Sir,

We set a time limit of 2 hours for processing/refrigeration. The hive is a very sanitary environment, with the presence of honey, propolis working as anti viral, anti bacterial agents ensuring the inside of the hive and its contents are free from biological contaminants. As soon as the products are removed from the hive they must rely on their own anti bacterial properties or on the timely processing/freezing, to remain contaminant free. We know that in the case of royal jelly, it starts to attract decomposition bacteria very quickly and it must therefore be ‘sealed’ via whatever means, quickly. Usually we find that the processors who don’t worry about the time interval for processing, usually go on to pasteurize the product, hence removing any unwanted bacterial activity. Yes, it’s amazing to us that many of our competitors work with pasteurized royal jelly, yet advertise it as ‘fresh’, ‘alive’. So be careful if the processor says they’re not too concerned about the processing time limit.

With your bee pollen question, it is difficult to answer. If you are taking local pollens, then it may be that there’s a local allergen that is inside the pollen that is affecting you negatively. Since our domestic USA pollens do not contain substances local to your area, it is possible that the allergens which affect you personally will not be present in our pollens. The only way to know for certain is to try it. Also, bee pollen is used extensively to de-sensitize people to the affect of airborne allergens, by introducing them to the body through the digestive system. So people expect some initial reaction to the pollen, but continue to take it until eventually the reaction diminishes to the point where it is no longer an issue. Obviously I’m not suggesting that you do that, since it should only be done under the supervision of a health care professional. But if your negative symptoms are mild, then it may be something to consider.

Yes we have many testimonials from people taking only royal jelly. We should update our websites more frequently with the customer emails we receive but always seem to be too busy! We do firmly believe in the ‘synergy’ effect of taking all four bee products together. Royal jelly can provide excellent benefits when taken alone, but with the other 3 products you have the complete spectrum of nutrition. We find the energy benefits of taking royal jelly alone to be extremely varied from person to person. Some people claim to feel more energized within minutes of taking the product, others say that it takes days to build up in the system. Other people claim it doesn’t have any effect, but when they stop taking it they feel the difference immediately and rush to re-order with Express shipping! We find that with the synergy product, there’s an overwhelming rise in the number of people who continue to reorder the product every month. With the Total Bee Plus, we have many people who have used the product continually for 5, 6, 7 years or more. With standard royal jelly, those repeat orders are good, but not as good as the Total Bee Plus, so that really tells us that the product is powerful and effective for people. We know from our own staff experiences that TBP can be a life-changer in many ways.

Hope this helps

Regards

Carl

www.thenaturalshopper.com

Clarification on royal jelly, its origins and how it is processed.
This is really a hot topic among royal jelly consumers. Despite having a good deal of clear information on its origins and the methods used to process it, I am still asked quite frequently about the differences between fresh liquid and lyophilized royal jelly.
The reason for the lack of clarity is that there is some extremely misleading information available, courtesy of the Internet. Unfortunately, in certain ‘high profile’ cases, it is intended to be misleading, so as to sell a particular type of product. One company, who shall remain nameless, make a big marketing shout on the ‘virtues’ of their supposedly “fresh, liquid royal jelly”. Apparently, it’s so much better than the freeze-dried alternative. Other companies, not so high-profile, wrap themselves up in the cozy blanket of being USA beekeepers. One assumes that their royal jelly came from their own beehives, a completely FALSE assumption.
Well, let’s explore some simple facts and then you can decide for yourself.
In simple terms, royal jelly can be removed from the hive and processed or it can be removed from the hive and pasteurized, then further processed. It’s important to know which version of royal jelly you are consuming, unfortunately, most companies will make no mention of any pasteurization having taken place, since we all know that it damages the live enzymes and affects the nutritional integrity of any product.
Back to those unscrupulous marketers and their claims about “liquid” royal jelly being the only choice – 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? I do, and it does. But surely manufacturers/processors do not pasteurize a health supplement? Well they do, and in many cases the reasons for the pasteurization relate to exporting the product in liquid form from Asia to the USA, where it is further processed for resale to consumers. The pasteurization is required to remove/prevent harmful bacteria from liquids, as required by import regulations. Let me be clear. You could be consuming fresh, liquid royal jelly which is touted as being superior to ‘freeze-dried’ royal jelly, but it may have been pasteurized prior to shipping to this country.
Then, what about taking fresh, liquid royal jelly and lyophilizing it without any pasteurization? [read more on freeze-dried royal jelly here] 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”? Yes, and it should do, it is. Link to pasteurized royal jelly facts
Let me reiterate this important point. If I’m a supplier, selling ‘liquid’ royal jelly in the USA, then there’s a high chance that the product originated in Asia (where it is most abundant), was pasteurized in Asia, shipped to the USA in bulk and processed into smaller containers/jars/capsules, and marketed as ‘fresh liquid royal jelly’, without any mention of pasteurization having taken place.
On the other hand, if I’m a supplier selling ‘freeze-dried royal jelly powder’ here in the USA, then it will most likely have taken one of three routes before it arrives with you, the end user.
1 – The product was farmed in Asia, lyophilized (freeze-dried) in Asia, shipped in bulk as a powder for capsulating in the USA, without any need for pasteurization.
2 – The product was farmed in Asia, pasteurized and shipped to the USA in liquid form either for lyophilizing/capsulating or processing into smaller jars for sale to the end user.
3 – The product was farmed in the USA and was processed in the USA without a requirement for pasteurization. – This is quite rare, since domestic USA royal jelly is in very limited supply. If you see a small beekeeper offering royal jelly capsules, then firstly, he or she would not have the required number of hives from which to draw off this substance, since it’s available in such tiny quantities from each hive. Secondly, they wouldn’t have the manufacturing capacity to handle/process royal jelly on-site themselves. So, you guessed it, they use larger processors who source the royal jelly overseas and capsulate/bottle/label under contract to the small beekeepers.
So be extremely careful and try to research and understand exactly what it is that you are getting, not all of it is created equal.

Many people ask about the quality of royal jelly and how one can determine if one supplier offers quality that is higher than the next.
The Standard for measuring royal jelly is 10-HDA content, or 10-Hydroxy-2-Decenoic Acid. This is the active substance which exists only in natural royal jelly and is often referred to as royal jelly acid. The content of 10-HDA in royal jelly is usually around 1.5%-2,0%. The content of 10-HDA in royal jelly is the international standard of the quality of royal jelly and it directly determines the price of royal jelly on the international market.

As we’ve talked about elsewhere, research into the affects of bee products is quite scarce, but we offer the following reference papers which are widely available online, and if you care to you may search and read the specifics of each of the studies.

TOWNSEND, GF., MORGAN, J.F., HAZLETT, B. Activity of 10-hydroxydecenoic acid from Royal Jelly against experimental leukaemia and ascitic tumours. Nature, v. 183, n. 4670, p. 1270-1271, 1959.

Blum, Murray S.; Novak, Arthur F.; Taber, Stephen, 10-Hydroxy-2-decenoic acid, an antibiotic found in royal jelly., Science (1959), 130 452-3.

Satomi, Koya-Miyata; Okamoto, Iwao; Ushio, Shimpei; Iwaki, Kanso; Ikeda, Masao; Kurimoto, Masashi. Identification of a collagen production-promoting factor from an extract of royal jelly and its possible mechanism. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry (2004), 68(4), 767-773.
Miyata, Satomi; Okamoto, Iwao; Ushio, Shimpei; Kurimoto, Masashi. Collagen production enhancer and production process and use thereof. PCT mt.Appi. (2005), 34 pp.
Takimoto, Hiroyuki; Motoyoshi, Katsuhiro. Skin or hair cosmetics. Kokai Tokkyo Koho (1998), 8 pp.

Wang, Guo-Yan; Lin, Zhi-Bin. Effects of 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid on phagocytosis and cytokines production of peritoneal macrophages in vitro. Zhongguo Yaoli Xuebao (1997), 18(2), 180-182

Yatsunami, Kazuhisa; Echigo, Takashi. Tamagawa Nogakubu Antibacterial action of royal jelly. Kenkyu Hokoku (1985), (25), 13-22.

Matsugami, Michio; Horikoshi, Haruyo; Kimura, Tomoshi; Koiso, Ichiro; Ochiai, Michio. Skin-whitening cosmetics. Kokai Tokkyo Koho (1986), 5 pp.
Karneda, Kenji; Chikaki, Mariko; Morimoto, Chie; Jiang, Ming; Okuda, Hiromichi. Insulin-like actions oftrans-10-hydroxy-2-decanoic acid and its related substances. Wakan Iyakugakii Zasshi (1996), 13(4), 456-457.
Fang, Erli; Zhou, Huazhu; Xu, Hongli; Xing, Meijuan. Antiulcer effects of 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid in rats. Zhongguo Yaolixue Tongbao (1994), 10(2), 13 9-42.

Xu Donghui; Mei Xueting; Xu Shibo The research of 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid on experiment hyperlipoidemic rat. Journal of Chinese medicinal materials (2002), 25(5), 346-7.

A summary of the various reference papers is as follows – royal jelly has many properties that may fight or inhibit the growth of tumors and cancerous cells, demonstrated in laboratory conditions on laboratory animals. Human studies into the affects of these substances have not been widely conducted and insufficient data exists with which to obtain FDA approvals for the substances in the treatment of cancers and other ailments.

A milky and creamy textured substance, royal jelly is a secretion derived from the pharyngeal glands of the honey bee.

Many refer to royal jelly as a “super food”, and for very good reason. Royal Jelly is high in proteins and is produced during the digestion of pollen by worker bees. During this process it is blended with enzymes and the resultant product fed to each bee destined to become a queen. During this cycle it becomes the exclusive food of the queen bee and enables her to lay up to 3,000 eggs per day during her six-year lifespan. In contrast, common worker bees eating ordinary honey live only four to six weeks.
Royal jelly benefits have been covered elsewhere in this blog and can also be found in more detail here Royal Jelly Benefits

Royal Jelly contains vitamins A, C, D, and E and is rich in B-complex vitamins along with B5 (Pantothenic Acid), one of the most important substances in the human body.
Incorporating royal jelly into your daily diet may prove beneficial on many levels. Explore this website for more detailed information on the many and varied benefits of products from the beehive.

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