Are There Any Side Effects To Royal Jelly?

Royal jelly is a honeybee product, and therapeutic use of the substance comes under the heading of "Apitherapy," which also includes using bee stings, bee pollen and honey. Available in tablets, capsules or liquid form, royal jelly offers some potential health benefits, although side effects may occur, especially in those prone to allergies. As a natural supplement, the FDA does not oversee the production of royal jelly so there is no guarantee of quality and safety. See your doctor before using royal jelly to treat any medical condition.

Royal Jelly Properties

If it sounds like something fed to royalty, it is. Nurse bees excrete royal jelly and feed it to all new larvae for about three days. After that, only the larvae selected by the bees to be a future queen may eat the highly nutritious substance. Fed on royal jelly, the queen bee grows to more than double the size of the other bees. Honeybees harvest pollen up to two miles away, and contaminates found on the plants, like chemicals or herbicides, may also be in the hive products.

Potential Benefits

Although clinical research confirming the anecdotal benefits of royal jelly does not exist, natural health advocates claim that the substance may be beneficial in treating numerous conditions, including arthritis, fractures, fatigue, skin disorders, ulcers and even hair loss. The use of creams and ointments that contain royal jelly may cause skin irritation in those sensitive to bee products.

Allergic Reactions

Most of the potential side effects from taking royal jelly relate to bee pollen and bee product allergies. CoxHealth, a division of Cox College, warns that no one with a allergies to bee products, poplar trees or conifer trees should take royal jelly. Symptoms of an allergic reaction range from stomach upset to intestinal bleeding, anaphylactic shock and even death from severe allergic reactions.

Women with Breast Cancer

The effects from using royal jelly are not well documented, although women who suffer from estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer should not take this product, since it might make the disease worse. According to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Other Considerations

The use of royal jelly may result in weight gain, and it may interfere with prescription medications, including warfarin and drugs used to control cholesterol. Talk to your doctor about the safety of using royal jelly before adding it to your diet.