Royal Jelly is one of the most difficult of all foods to harvest and commands one of the highest prices because of its scarcity, high demand and the recognition of its qualities. Why? Tests show Royal Jelly to be about 36% protein and containing amino acids, minerals, and B-Complex.

Royal Jelly is a miracle substance for at least one entity: the Queen bee. This milky white gelatinous substance is secreted in the salivary glands of worker bees for the sole apparent purpose of stimulating the growth and development of queen bees.

What it can do for humans is a far more controversial matter. The claims are exuberant; its supposed to extend life span and, in general, reinvigorate the body.

Royal jelly is rich in pantothenic acid (part of the vitamin B complex), a substance essential for many metabolic processes.

Pantothenic acid, as previously discussed, has shown some evidence of being useful in the treatment of some bone and joint disorders. It was reported that relief from various of the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis could be achieved with injections of pantothenic acid.

Interestingly, even better results were reported by these researchers when pantothenic acid was combined with royal jelly, suggesting there might be some additional therapeutic agent in the royal jelly. Daily intramuscular injections of royal jelly alone proved ineffective, but daily injections of a mixture of royal jelly and pantothenic acid resulted in greater improvement than had been noted with pantothenic acid alone.

It has been hypothesized that the possible additional therapeutic factor in royal jelly might be a substance called 10hydroxydec2enoic acid, as this is another major constituent of royal jelly.

One group reported that the injection of royal jelly or of 10hydroxydec2enoic acid affords complete protection against transplantable mouse leukemia. I know of no follow-up to this finding, but there has been some confirmation with respect to Calcium pantothenate (pantothenic acid) and various arthritic conditions. There has also been a report that hydroxydec2enoic acid has anti microbial properties.