Functional Food for Better Health - Honey, Propolis & Royal Jelly

Its all in the ingredients!! Each of these products merit healthy respect but all three together? In Apitherapy, that's called Synergistic Power! If you're consuming these bee products, you're not only saving your life but helping bees maintain an important role and contributor to all beings on our planet. 

Honey, Propolis, and Royal Jelly: A Comprehensive Review of Their Biological Actions and Health Benefits

JOxidMed 2017 February

Introduction

Apiculture is the science and art of prolonging, sustaining, and retaining health by using products obtained from honeybee hives, such as honey, bee bread, bee venom, bee pollen, propolis, and royal jelly. Recent years have seen the fast application of bee products in both traditional and modern medicine. Currently, many studies are targeted toward investigating directed health benefits and pharmacological properties of bee products due to their efficacies, leading to the increasing development of nutraceuticals and functional food from these products. The concept of functional food refers to food that has the ability to promote better physiological or psychological health compared to traditional remediated and nutritional food. These effects positively contribute toward excellent health maintenance, well-being, and reduced chronic illness [1]. The present review focuses on the potential health benefits of bee products, including honey, propolis, and royal jelly. 

Conclusion

The present review focused on the potential health benefits of bee products such as honey, propolis, and royal jelly. These products are highly rich in active components such as flavonoids, phenolic acid, phenolic compounds, terpenes, and enzymes, which have biological functions in preventing some diseases and promoting good health. Honey, propolis, and royal jelly have distinct efficacies with significant nutritional properties and functional values. Thus, these bee products can be developed into potent apitherapeutic agents. However, some precautions need to be taken in case of allergens associated with bee products and in finding the right intake dosage. Hence, it is necessary to conduct further studies to determine the critical mechanisms related to the pharmacological activities of these bee products and the appropriate amounts that can be taken in order to obtain promising health benefits.

Buckwheat Honey Exhibits Super Protective Effect

Generally speaking, the darker the honey the richer it is both in mineral content and therapeutic effect. Buckwheat honey has a history of it's beneficial value and this study confirms its high antioxidant activity and phenolic content. Though it may be strong in flavor for the palette, it's an ideal complement to a wound healing strategy.

The Protective Effect of Whole Honey and Phenolic Extract on Oxidative DNA Damage in Mice Lymphocytes Using Comet Assay

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition 2017 Sep 19

In this study, the antioxidant activity and the protective effect against hydrogen peroxide-induced DNA damage were assessed for five honeys of different botanical origin. Seven phenolic acids were detected in the honey samples. Ferulic acid was the most abundant phenolic acid detected in longan honey, jujube honey and buckwheat honey. Ellagic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid and protocatechuic acid were the main phenolic acids detected in vitex honey.

Of all honey samples tested, the highest total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were found in buckwheat honey, whereas the lowest total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were found in locust honey. Treatment with hydrogen peroxide induced a 62% increase in tail DNA in mice lymphocytes, and all studied honeys significantly inhibited this effect (P < 0.05).

The buckwheat honey with higher antioxidant capability also exhibited super protective effect than others. Phenolic extracts of honey displayed greater protective effects than whole honey in comet assay. The hydrogen peroxide-generated increase in 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) was effectively inhibited by the honeys studied (P < 0.05). Moreover, a dose-effect relationship between honey concentration and its protective effect was clearly observed in this study.

It can be deduced that phenolic acids of honey can penetrate into lymphocytes and protect DNA from oxidative damage by scavenging hydrogen peroxide and/or chelating ferrous ions.