The Benefit of Bee Propolis, Honey and also Royal Jelly

Bee products epitomize everything that's right and wrong about healthy foods and dietary supplements. For a lot of people, the thought of eating "beestuff" - other than honey - seems hard to bear. And while bee products have a faithful following, not many 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 amazing claims of bee pollen.
Even worse, advocates of bee products can sometimes be their own worst enemies with wild cure-all claims of most things from arthritis to sexual impotence.
Bee products can'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 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.
Propolis
Bees create propolis by collecting a resinous sap from plants 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 full of 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 recognized medical journal entries talked about how the caffeic acids in propolis and honey might prevent colon cancer, which kills some 60,000 Americans each year.
Most medical articles, however, still point to the properties of propolis as a powerful, natural antibiotic. That doesn't mean eating propolis will let you throw away your antibiotics - however you may not need them quite as often.
Why would bees need substances with broad antibacterial and antiviral values? 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 1700's.
Two medical journal articles document the activity of propolis specifically against Staphylococcus aureus, the bacterium that causes dangerous and often deadly 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 discovered that extracts of propolis - specifically, sinapic, isoferulic, and caffeic acids - inhibited growth. 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 outcome on many others.
Another scientific investigation uncovered that propolis inhibited the activity of several streptococcal bacteria types that cause dental caries.
Japanese researchers discovered 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. These strep species are closely related to the germ that can cause strep throat.
Propolis can fight 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.
Perhaps more amazing is that propolis can act against viruses, which antibiotics do not. A number of medical journal reports have reported the role of propolisin fighting upper respiratory infections, such as those caused by the common cold and influenza viruses Other investigators have reported that the cinnamic acid extracts of propolis can stop viruses from reproducing, but they worked best when used during the entire infection.
Underpinning many of the benefits of propolis is that some of its components,like the flavonoids and ethanols, function as antioxidant free-radical scavengers. It was reported in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology reported that some of the antioxidant phenols in propolis functioned similarly to vitamin E. In another article, researchers described that propolis had anti-inflammatory values and that it could also help stop blood clots.
Royal Jelly
Highly touted royal jelly, fed to the debutante larvae that grow into queen bees, contains a powerful antibacterial protein that Japanese investigators revealed and named royalisin. Rich in amino acids, royalisin is primarily effective against "Gram-positive" bacteria, which include staph and strep species.
Like propolis, royal jelly also appears to have anti-tumor properties. A different 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 20% and tumor sizes were reduced by 50%, compared with untreated mice.
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" humans against many bacterial and viral infections - and maybe even reduce our risk of developing cancer.
Honey
Six medical journal articles in the last few 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 50% of the scar tissue - compared with patients treated by other means.
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, Doctor 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 amazing is the effect of honey on Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium now known to cause gastric ulcers. Because honey has for a long time been a folk remedy for dyspepsia, or stomach upset, a team of investigators from the University of Waikato, New Zealand, tested whether or not honey would have any benefit. Within three days, honey halted the growth of H. pylori colonies obtained from patients.
This article is strictly educational and not intended as medical advice. For diagnosis and treatment, consult your physician.

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