# Is queen bee jelly/honey good for you?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-queen-bee-jelly-honey-good-for-you/221833
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 30, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-queen-bee-jelly-honey-good-for-you/221833 "2003-12-30T20:52:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@hauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hauss)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-queen-bee-jelly-honey-good-for-you/221833/1 "2003-12-30T20:52:32Z")
My mother showed this brochure to me that was praising the health benefits of this “Royal Jelly” from Bee-Alive, the honey that only the queen bee eats. They say it gives you energy and stamina, ect.
I have two questions:
1. What is the nutritional composition of this stuff?
2. What are the experts/studies saying about this stuff, if anything?
Thanks.
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-queen-bee-jelly-honey-good-for-you/221833/2 "2003-12-30T22:00:21Z")
For all the scientific queries into quack remedies, [www.quackwatch.org](http://www.quackwatch.org) is your friend. Specifically, [this page](http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/DSH/bee.html)
> [@](#):
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> Royal jelly, which is secreted from the salivary glands of worker bees, serves as food for all young larvae and as the only food for larvae that will develop into queen bees. Like bee pollen, it has been falsely claimed to be especially nutritious, to provide buoyant energy, and to have therapeutic properties.
>
> Bee pollen and royal jelly should be regarded as potentially dangerous because they cause allergic reactions. People allergic to specific pollens have developed asthma, hives, and anaphylactic shock after ingesting pollen or royal jelly
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-queen-bee-jelly-honey-good-for-you/221833/3 "2003-12-30T22:05:52Z")
From the same page:
> [@](#):
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> In 1992, a federal court ordered destruction of quantities of Bee Alive, a royal jelly and herb combination in honey seized from Bee-Alive Inc., of Valley Cottage, N.Y. In 1989, the FDA had warned the company that promotional material distributed with a similar product had made illegal statements that the product was useful in treating or preventing chronic Epstein-Barr virus syndrome, gastrointestinal ulcers, colitis, low blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, nervous breakdowns, infertility, impotence, depression, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, anemia, asthma, hemorrhoids, migraine headaches, and other problems. Despite a promise to stop distributing literature making these claims, the company continued to advertise that Regina Royal Jelly could help children resist childhood ailments, “offers daytime vitality and nighttime tranquility,” increases mental and physical stamina, and “seems to improve the immune system.” Company president Madeline Balletta still promotes Bee-Alive as a “super-food” whose users (including herself) have been relieved from severe fatigue
Maybe Bee-Alive should change their name to Bee-nConvictedof fraud
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### Author:  [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-queen-bee-jelly-honey-good-for-you/221833/4 "2003-12-30T22:12:20Z")
Bee pollen is basically protein, and could cause an allergic reaction. The amount of protein is small and is easily available from other sources. Honey (regurgitated nectar) contains a few more nutrients than sugar, but is not a health food. If you have the choice between sugar and honey, take the honey, honey. There are, of course, all different kinds of honeys, from all the different flowers that bees may visit. Clover honey, I believe, is the most common.
Personally, I’m not enthralled about eating vomit, even from a bee.
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### Author:  [@Ash51](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ash51)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2003, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-queen-bee-jelly-honey-good-for-you/221833/5 "2003-12-31T01:23:32Z")
It has caused at least one death in Australia. If you have asthma its something to stay away from.
[http://www.nationalasthma.org.au/publications/amh/med\_other\_4.htm](http://www.nationalasthma.org.au/publications/amh/med_other_4.htm)
"Some complementary medicines have been implicated in exacerbating asthma, most notably Royal Jelly (which has caused severe worsening of asthma, in some cases causing death). "
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### Author:  [@robo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robo99)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-queen-bee-jelly-honey-good-for-you/221833/6 "2003-12-31T01:32:20Z")
I’ve read (in this forum I think) that eating _locally_ produced honey will over time strengthen your body against allergens.
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-queen-bee-jelly-honey-good-for-you/221833/7 "2003-12-31T01:41:31Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by robo99 \*
> \*\*I’ve read (in this forum I think) that eating _locally_ produced honey will over time strengthen your body against allergens. \*\*
From the article I quoted above
> [@](#):
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> It has been speculated the presence of these allergens might enable regular users to become desensitized (as would happen with allergy shots). **However, the odds of this happening are extremely small.**
(bolding mine)