Royal Jelly Benefits – What This Bee Substance Does to Humans?

A few people have submitted questions about Royal Jelly benefits. Does it really improve erection, make your skin look better and even lower cholesterol levels? Here is a quick review of Royal Jelly benefits.

What is Royal Jelly?

Royal Jelly is honey bee secretion that is fed to “chosen” bee larvae making it turn on the queen bee genes, growing larger and living longer than a regular worker bee.

Of course, marketers thought that this substance does the same things to human as it does to bees and started pushing Royal Jelly with wild claims.

Royal Jelly is apparently used to reduce menopausal symptoms, boosting the immune system, aphrodisiac, testosterone booster, anti-aging, skin health and so on, the list is endless.

Here are some of the advertised benefits of Royal Jelly:
– Improved skin health
– Helps with fertility
– Increased libido & testosterone
– Protect the liver
– Reduce inflammation
– Boost immune system

It really makes you think, is this bee secretion really an amazing thing that would be worth investing in?

I was skeptical and I began to investigate whether Royal Jelly is as good as what the marketers are expecting.

Let’s take a look at what Royal Jelly actually contains and is there actual evidence of these benefits…

Royal Jelly nutrition

Royal Jelly is a nutrient powerhouse, containing different trace minerals, enzymes, vitamins, and even antibacterial components. You could easily classify Royal Jelly as “nature made multivitamin” like Chlorella.

According to Wikipedia Royal Jelly contains:

“Royal jelly is composed of 67% water, 12.5% crude protein, including small amounts of many different amino acids, and 11% simple sugars (monosaccharides), also including a relatively high amount (5%) of fatty acids. The main acid is the 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA) (about 2 – 3%). It also contains many trace minerals, some enzymes, antibacterial and antibiotic components, pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxine ( vitamin B6) and trace amounts of vitamin C,[2] but none of the fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E, and K.”- Source

The queen bee acid called 10-HDA is one of the main bioactive components in Royal Jelly. 10-HDA has been shown to have interesting benefits in animal and in-vitro studies.

“RJ has been demonstrated to possess many pharmacological activities in experimental animals, including antitumor, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-allergic, anti-aging and antihypertensive properties.” – Source

But does these components actually provide benefits in the human body?

Royal Jelly benefits (evidence based)

Royal Jelly is being touted for its miraculous benefits, but are there actually any evidence of these benefits?

Royal Jelly is not as well studied like other bee products, honey, propolis and bee pollen. Most of the benefits of Royal Jelly are based on results from animal studies. However, there are some human clinical trials where Royal Jelly has shown benefits.

Royal Jelly benefits based on studies:

Royal Jelly for testosterone and erection?

Traditionally one of the most popular uses for Royal Jelly is to improve sexual function, testosterone, libido, and erection. Royal Jelly itself contains small amounts of testosterone.

Is there any real scientific evidence showing that Royal Jelly increases testosterone and libido?

Answer: Currently there is only one study in healthy humans which has shown an increase in testosterone levels. However, there is also one study made with infertile men that showed up to 22% increase in testosterone levels. In addition, there is a lot of animal experiments where Royal Jelly has improved sexual functions.

This six-month trial, healthy volunteers were given 3000mg of Royal Jelly or placebo in liquid form. After 6 months results were analyzed and it was discovered that testosterone levels and the DHEA-S ratio were significantly higher in the RJ group. Researched concluded: “Six-month ingestion of RJ in humans improved erythropoiesis, glucose tolerance, and mental health. Acceleration of conversion from DHEA-S to T by RJ may have been observed among these favorable effects.” ^​1​

In this study published in Thi-Qar Medical Journal, 83 infertile men received Royal Jelly with different dosages 100mg, 50mg, 25mg, and pure honey for control. After 3 months of treatment with Royal Jelly improved testosterone levels by 19,80-22,01%, while honey raised testosterone level only by 8,33%. Also, serum FSH and LH levels were improved in Royal Jelly groups. Researchers also noted improved sperm quality and sexual desire (by intercourse’s per week).^​2​

In this study, Royal Jelly significantly boosted testosterone levels, increased ejaculated volume, improved sperm motility, increase sperm total output on heat stressed rabbits. It was concluded that Royal Jelly counteract rabbit’s “summer infertility” and improved physiological status. ^​3​

In this animal study made with diabetic rats, Royal Jelly improved increased testicular weight, sperm count and serum testosterone.^​4​

Royal Jelly might protect sperm parameters and testosterone levels in mice treated with oxymetholone (orally active anabolic-androgenic steroid).^​5​

This rat study showed that Royal Jelly might have protective effects against testicular damage.^​6​

Another rat study showing that Royal Jelly might have protective effect on reproductive system.^​7​

Royal Jelly improves sexual, urinary function and quality of life in postmenopausal women

In this randomized trial, Royal Jelly was put on test on 90 postmenopausal women. Participants were given Royal Jelly cream, placebo lubricant, or vaginal estrogen. Interestingly Royal Jelly was more effective than vaginal estrogen based on the quality of life questionnaire and laboratory observations. It seems that Royal Jelly has estrogenic properties that improve life quality in postmenopausal women better than actual estrogen creams.^​8​

Royal Jelly might improve lipid profiles, raise HDL and lower LDL cholesterol

In this study, 36 postmenopausal women took 150 mg of Greek-origin Royal Jelly daily for three months. After 3 months royal jelly remarkable increased HDL cholesterol (the good one), lowered the bad cholesterol (LDL) and total cholesterol.^​9​

One study from Japan noticed that 6 grams of royal jelly per day for 4 weeks significantly decrease total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. However, they did not see a rise in HDL levels.^​10​

In this study, 10 grams of Royal Jelly daily for two weeks raised HDL cholesterol levels and lowered LDL in elderly patients.^​11​

The Older review concludes:

“Meta-analysis of the controlled human trials of RJ to reduce hyperlipidemia showed a significant reduction in total serum lipids and cholesterol levels and normalization of HDL and LDL as determined from decrease in beta/alpha lipoproteins. The best available evidence suggests that RJ at approximately 50 to 100 mg per day, decreased total serum cholesterol levels by about 14%, and total serum lipids by about 10% in the group of patients studied.”^​12​

Royal Jelly protect against skin aging and enhance collagen production?

Many cosmetics and soaps use Royal Jelly as one of the ingredients because it’s believed to have anti-aging and skin healing properties. Because of that, many men are rubbing Royal Jelly fortified lotions to their penis to enhance its appearance. But is there any evidence that Royal Jelly improves skin health?

Yes, Royal Jelly has some evidence of improving skin and enhancing collagen production, at least in animal and in-vitro studies.

This study concluded: “RJ may potentially protect the skin from UVB-induced photoaging by enhancing collagen production.”^​13​

Another study made on rats noted that Royal Jelly might protect skin against aging by enhancing collagen production.^​14​

In this study, it was noticed that Royal Jelly alters the levels of various lipids which are involved in the wound healing process.^​15​

Other possible benefits of Royal Jelly:

• Royal jelly inhibits the growth-promoting effect of Bisphenol-A on human breast cancer MCF-7 cells.^​16​
• Royal Jelly might have some neuroprotective effects based on streptozotocin-induced sporadic Alzheimer’s disease in rats.^​17​
• Royal Jelly significantly increased the number of dentate gyrus cells and improved the cognitive impairment in trimethyltin poisoned mices.^​18​
• Royal Jelly decreases the bone loss due to osteoporosis in oophorectomized rats.^​19​
• Royal Jelly might increase serum total antioxidant capacity and decrease HOMA-IR in type 2 diabetic patients.^​20​
• Royal Jelly might accelerate recovery from oral mucositis, at least in hamsters.^​21​
• Royal Jelly increased the average life span of C3H/HeJ mice.^​22​

Royal Jelly studies conclusion
Honestly, I didn’t expect much from Royal Jelly. But indeed, Royal Jelly seems to have some beneficial components that offer benefits to humans. Even small amounts like 25-100mg of Royal Jelly increased testosterone in infertile men. Royal Jelly might also have a positive effect on lipid profiles.

Beware Royal Jelly side-effects

Allergy: Royal jelly comes from bees. If you are allergic to honey or bee products you should not use royal jelly or any product that contains it. If you are allergic to royal jelly side effects can range from skin irradiation, short of breath or even deathly anaphylactic shock.

Everyone should try Royal Jelly carefully as it might trigger serious reactions if you are allergic to bees. There are actually cases where consuming royal jelly has induced fatal asthma leading to death.^​23,24​

Pregnant: Generally it’s not recommended to use Royal Jelly during pregnancy, as there are not enough studies to confirm its safety.

Don’t give Royal Jelly to a new-born baby
Do not under any circumstances think that your baby will grow faster if you give him royal jelly. Giving royal jelly to children under the age of 1 can trigger life-threatening botulism because the baby’s gut is not yet developed to fight off bacteria that can lie in royal jelly.

Royal Jelly dosage

Royal Jelly is more potent than honey and other bee products, so you don’t need to use it in large quantities for getting benefits. Generally recommended dose for royal jelly is around a half-full teaspoon per day, but of course, it depends on the product that you are using. In studies, the dosage varies from 150mg to up to 10 grams daily for 3 months.

Royal Jelly recommendations

If you are interested in improving your sex drive and erection with Royal Jelly, this is my favorite product for that department.

Y.S. Eco Bee Farms, Royal Jelly is reinforced with the Korean Ginseng (Panax root), which is shown to improve erection and libido (seems to works for women too).^{​25–29​}

Korean Ginseng is also great for increasing blood flow and endothelial function making it a great add-on for making strong erections.^{​30–32​}

This Royal Jelly also contains Eleuthero root which has evidence on enhancing endurance capacity and even cardiovascular functions.^​33,34​

How to use and how much?
One serving size has 625mg of fresh Royal Jelly blended with honey and small amounts of bee pollen & propolis extract. 625mg of Royal Jelly per serving is more than enough for testosterone benefits, so you can definitely even halve the dosage. In above-mentioned study^​2​ infertile men used 25-100mg daily leading to 19,80-22,01% rise in testosterone levels.

I personally use around half teaspoon alongside with “long-lasting erection stack“. Mainly to get extra sex minerals, enzymes, and vitamins from Royal Jelly and of course the benefits from Korean Ginseng.

I ordered my Royal Jelly from iHerb.com which offers international shipping almost world-wide. There is also the regular version of royal jelly without Panax ginseng and Eleuthero root.

If you have not yet ordered from iHerb.com, you’ll get 10% off from your first order with code: KLJ962.
Everyone else gets 5% off. You get the discount code automatically from my links and while you’ll benefit from this, I also benefit by getting “iHerb credits” that I can use towards my next orders. Thank you for this!

Royal Jelly benefits conclusion

Royal jelly definitely is not a just another scam like deer antler velvet. Repeated human and animal studies have found benefits from Royal Jelly supplementation. Of course, more studies are needed to make clear conclusions.

If you are interested in any of these benefits, I don’t really see any reason not to try Royal Jelly. Just remember that Royal Jelly is a bee product, don’t use it if you are allergic to bees.