What is Royal Jelly ?
Substances derived from bees include bee pollen, royal jelly and propolis. Royal jelly, also known as gelee royale and ‘super food’ is an emulsion of proteins, sugars and lipids in a water base, and is synthesised by the bee from pollen. These are rich in the essential amino acids (i.e. those amino acids which cannot be biosynthesised), and so play an important role in bee nutrition.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Honey 'could help fight cancer'
Honey 'could help fight cancer'
The humble bee may be able to help fight cancer .Honey and royal jelly could become part of the arsenal of weapons against cancer, researchers say.
A team from the University of Zagreb, in Croatia, found a range of honey-bee products stopped tumours growing or spreading in tests on mice.
Writing in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, they say human cancer sufferers may also see benefits.
But they said the products should be considered for use along with, not instead of, chemotherapy treatment.
Tumour growth
The researchers looked at the potential benefits of bee venom and honey.
There is no doubt that honey has beneficial properties and can be very good for you
Dr Emma Croager, Cancer Research UK
They also examined compounds found in propolis, or bee glue, a resin-like substance which is used in the hive to varnish over rubbish in the hive - a bit like brushing the dirt under the carpet.
And they also looked at royal jelly, produced by the hypopharyngeal glands in the head of the worker bee - used as food for young larvae,
Tumours were generated in the mice via the injection of cancer cells, and each bee product was given to different mice before, at the same time, or afterwards.
It was found that giving honey orally appeared to inhibit the development of tumours when it was given before the injection of cancer cells - although if given afterwards, it appeared to fuel the development of secondary cancers.
Injecting the mice with royal jelly at the same time as they were injected with tumour cells significantly reduced the spread of the cancer.
And injecting bee venom into the tumour appeared to lead to it shrinking.
When propolis or caffeic acid, a chemical found in propolis, were injected, researchers saw significantly reduced subcutaneous tumour growth and an increase in the survival time of mice.
The researchers say it is not yet clear how bee products affect cancer cells.
But they suggest they may cause apoptosis (cell suicide) or have direct effects which are toxic to the cells, or which help the immune system fight the development of tumours.
The research team, led by Dr Nada Orsolic, said their study indicated honey-bee products could be a useful tool in the control of tumour growth in research.
They added: "The intake of honey-bee products may be advantageous with respect to cancer and metastasis [secondary cancers] prevention.
"Further animal and clinical research utilising these substances is suggested."
Dr Emma Croager, a science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "There is no doubt that honey has beneficial properties and can be very good for you.
"However, this work is preliminary and careful large-scale studies in people are needed to confirm if eating honey can protect us from cancer."
From : BBC
The humble bee may be able to help fight cancer .Honey and royal jelly could become part of the arsenal of weapons against cancer, researchers say.
A team from the University of Zagreb, in Croatia, found a range of honey-bee products stopped tumours growing or spreading in tests on mice.
Writing in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, they say human cancer sufferers may also see benefits.
But they said the products should be considered for use along with, not instead of, chemotherapy treatment.
Tumour growth
The researchers looked at the potential benefits of bee venom and honey.
There is no doubt that honey has beneficial properties and can be very good for you
Dr Emma Croager, Cancer Research UK
They also examined compounds found in propolis, or bee glue, a resin-like substance which is used in the hive to varnish over rubbish in the hive - a bit like brushing the dirt under the carpet.
And they also looked at royal jelly, produced by the hypopharyngeal glands in the head of the worker bee - used as food for young larvae,
Tumours were generated in the mice via the injection of cancer cells, and each bee product was given to different mice before, at the same time, or afterwards.
It was found that giving honey orally appeared to inhibit the development of tumours when it was given before the injection of cancer cells - although if given afterwards, it appeared to fuel the development of secondary cancers.
Injecting the mice with royal jelly at the same time as they were injected with tumour cells significantly reduced the spread of the cancer.
And injecting bee venom into the tumour appeared to lead to it shrinking.
When propolis or caffeic acid, a chemical found in propolis, were injected, researchers saw significantly reduced subcutaneous tumour growth and an increase in the survival time of mice.
The researchers say it is not yet clear how bee products affect cancer cells.
But they suggest they may cause apoptosis (cell suicide) or have direct effects which are toxic to the cells, or which help the immune system fight the development of tumours.
The research team, led by Dr Nada Orsolic, said their study indicated honey-bee products could be a useful tool in the control of tumour growth in research.
They added: "The intake of honey-bee products may be advantageous with respect to cancer and metastasis [secondary cancers] prevention.
"Further animal and clinical research utilising these substances is suggested."
Dr Emma Croager, a science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "There is no doubt that honey has beneficial properties and can be very good for you.
"However, this work is preliminary and careful large-scale studies in people are needed to confirm if eating honey can protect us from cancer."
From : BBC
Monday, October 09, 2006
Medical Journals Document Value - Royal Jelly
Medical Journals Document Value
of Bee Propolis, Honey and Royal Jelly
Copyright © 1995 by Jack Challem, The Nutrition Reporter™
All rights reserved.
When it comes to bee pollen, propolis, and royal jelly, people either seem to swear by them or swear at them.
Bee products epitomize everything that's right and wrong about natural foods and dietary supplements. For a lot of people, the concept of eating "beestuff" - other than honey - seems awfully strange. And while bee products have a faithful following, few people really understand why they work. Scientifically,that is.
Not surprisingly, physicians usually bristle at the thought of people popping bee pollen and propolis capsules. One doctor, almost 20 years ago, warned in a medical journal that patients shouldn't get "stung" by the miracle claims of bee pollen.
Even worse, advocates of bee products can often be their own worst enemies with wild cure-all claims of everything from arthritis to sexual impotence.
Bee products don't cure everything. But in a search of recent medical journal articles - most turned out to be from overseas - I found impressive documentation for propolis and honey as powerful, natural antibiotics. Amazingly, some doctors have even used honey-soaked gauze as wound dressings. And a few of the components of propolis and royal jelly even have anti-cancer properties.
As for allergies, bee pollen might help you the way it helped Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). But there's a dearth of medical journal reports on pollen, except to point out that it can cause dermatitis or anaphylactic shock.
Propolis
Bees create propolis by collecting a resinous sap from trees and then mixing it with wax back at the hive. They use this material much the way people use caulk: to seal their homes. Chemically, propolis is exceedingly complex and contains a rich variety of potent terpenes and benzoic, caffeic, cinnamic,and phenolic acids. It's also high in flavonoids, which by themselves may account for many of the benefits attributed to propolis-and some researchers refer to propolis as a type of flavonoid.
One of the most significant medical journal articles described how the caffeic acids in propolis and honey might prevent colon cancer, which kills some 60,000 Americans each year. Chinthalapally V. Rao, Ph.D., of the American health Foundation, Valhalla, N.Y., reported in Cancer Research (Sept.15,1993; 53:1482-88) that these caffeic acids prevented the formation of precancerous tissue in rats after they were exposed to cancer-causing chemicals.
Most medical articles, however, still point to the value of propolis as a powerful, natural antibiotic. That doesn't mean eating propolis will let you throw away your antibiotics - only that you may not need them quite as often.
Why would bees need substances with broad antibacterial and antiviral properties? Any beekeeper will tell you the answer. Bees are very susceptible to bacterial and viral infections, which can destroy hives the way the bubonic plague ravaged Europe in the 17th century.
Two medical journal articles document the activity of propolis specifically against Staphylococcus aureus, the bacterium that causes dangerous and often deadly surgical infections, blood poisoning, and a type of pneumonia. Five to 10 percent of all patients hospitalized in the United States develop such infections, and S. aureus has become resistant to all but one pharmaceutical antibiotic.
In a Chinese study, researchers found that extracts of propolis - specifically, sinapic, isoferulic, and caffeic acids - inhibited the growth of S. aureus (Qiao Z, China Journal of Chinese Materi Medica, Aug. 1991;16:481-2). A European study reported that ethanol extracts from propolis had a "marked synergistic effect" on the anti-staph activity of two antibiotics, streptomycin and cloxacillin, and a moderate effect on several others (Krol W, Arzneimittel-Forschung, May 1993;43:607-9).
Another scientific investigation discovered that propolis inhibited the activity of several streptococcal bacteria species that cause dental caries.Japanese researchers reported that propolis-fed laboratory fats had far fewer caries than those given a regular diet. Propolis protected specifically against Streptococcus mutans and several other strep species (Ikeno K, Caries research, 1991;25:347-51). These strep species are closely related to the germ that causes strep throat.
Propolis works against bacteria in several ways. One study reported that it prevented bacterial cell division and also broke down bacterial walls and cytoplasm, which is how some prescription antibiotics work (Takaisi-KikuniNB, Planta Medica, June 1994;60:222-7).
Perhaps more remarkable is that propolis acts against viruses, which antibiotics do not. A number of medical journal reports have discussed the role of propolisin fighting upper respiratory infections, such as those caused by the common cold and influenza viruses (Focht J, Arzneimittel-Forschung, Aug. 1993;43:921-3). Other investigators have reported that the cinnamic acid extracts of propolis prevent viruses from reproducing, but they worked best when used during the entire infection (Serkedjieva J, Journal of Natural Products, March 1992;55:294-302).
Underpinning many of the benefits of propolis is that some of its components,like the flavonoids and ethanols, function as antioxidant free-radical scavengers. A study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology (Jan. 1994;21:9-13)noted that some of the antioxidant phenols in propolis functioned similarly to vitamin E. In another article, researchers described that propolis had anti-inflammatory properties and that it could also prevent blood clots(Drugs Under Experimental & Clinical Research, 1993; 19:197-203).
Honey
Six medical journal articles over the past three years have also described the antibiotic properties of honey. A physician at the medical college in Maharashtra, India, recently explored the use of honey-soaked gauze to treat burn patients. The 40 patients treated with honey healed in about half the time - and with half the scar tissue - compared with patients treated by other means. (Subrahmanyam M, Burns, Aug. 1994;20:331-3).
A team of researchers from the department of surgery, University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria, reported that unprocessed honey "inhibited most of the fungi and bacteria" causing surgical and wound infections. In a remarkable conclusion in the journal Infection (Jul.- Aug. 1992;20:227-9),Dr. S. E. Efem and his colleagues wrote, "Honey is thus an ideal topical wound dressing agent in surgical infections, burns and wound infections."
Perhaps most remarkable is the effect of honey on Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium now known to cause gastric ulcers. Because honey has long been a folk remedy for dyspepsia, or stomach upset, a team of researchers from the University of Waikato, New Zealand, tested whether honey would have any benefit. Within three days, honey stopped the growth of H. pylori colonies obtained from patients.
Royal Jelly
Highly touted royal jelly, fed to the debutante larvae that grow into queen bees, contains a powerful antibacterial protein that Japanese researchers discovered and named royalisin. Rich in amino acids, royalisin is primarily effective against "Gram-positive" bacteria, which include staph and strep species (Fujiwara S, Journal of Biological Chemistry, July 5,1990;265:11333-7).
Like propolis, royal jelly also appears to have anti-tumor properties. Another team of Japanese researchers gave royal jelly to one of two groups of laboratory mice before transplanting different types of cancer cells in them. The royal jelly had no effect on the leukemia cells, but it had dramatic effects on sarcoma cells. The lifespan of the mice was extended by about one-fifth and tumor sizes were about half the size, compared with untreated mice,according to a report in the journal Nippon Yakurigaku Zasshji-Folia Pharmacologica Japonica (Feb. 1987;89:73-80).
In sum, we could learn a lesson from bees that eat honey and royal jelly, and seal their hives with propolis. By eating these bee products, we can preventively "innoculate" ourselves against many bacterial and viral infections - and maybe even reduce our risk of developing cancer.
So, in light of the scientific evidence, next time you hear someone ridicule bee propolis, royal jelly, and other products, just tell them to "buzz off."
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Royal jelly - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Honey 'could help fight cancer'
The humble bee may be able to help fight cancerHoney and royal jelly could become part of the arsenal of weapons against cancer, researchers say.
A team from the University of Zagreb, in Croatia, found a range of honey-bee products stopped tumours growing or spreading in tests on mice.
Writing in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, they say human cancer sufferers may also see benefits. More ...
Royal jelly is a type of bee secretion that aids in the development of immature or young bees. It is secreted by the heads of young workers and used (amongst other substances) to feed the young until they develop to the desired rank. If a queen is desired, the hatchling will receive only royal jelly as its food source, in order that she will become sexually mature and have the fully developed ovaries needed to lay more eggs for the hive. More
The humble bee may be able to help fight cancerHoney and royal jelly could become part of the arsenal of weapons against cancer, researchers say.
A team from the University of Zagreb, in Croatia, found a range of honey-bee products stopped tumours growing or spreading in tests on mice.
Writing in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, they say human cancer sufferers may also see benefits. More ...
Royal jelly - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Royal jelly is a type of bee secretion that aids in the development of immature or young bees. It is secreted by the heads of young workers and used (amongst other substances) to feed the young until they develop to the desired rank. If a queen is desired, the hatchling will receive only royal jelly as its food source, in order that she will become sexually mature and have the fully developed ovaries needed to lay more eggs for the hive. More
Monday, October 02, 2006
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