Does Queen Food Improve Your Immune System?
Honey, propolis and queen bee food are all products that come from bees. Thanks to their active components , they are very useful ways to enhance its nutrition. Although queen bee food does not enhance one’s immune system, it has been linked to antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, disinfectant and antioxidant activity.
What is queen bee food?
Queen bee food is a substance that worker bees excrete. It is a “superfood” that feeds larvae the first three days of their lives as well as queen bees throughout their lives.
Lots of people have been using it as a traditional remedy for many years. Both in Asian apitotherapy and in the ancient Egyptians it was actually used a lot. At present, it is widely used in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
What properties does it have for our health?
The nutritional content of queen bee food is very perfect and has a high concentration of nutrients. It consists of water, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins – especially B vitamins – and some minerals.
In addition, researchers have discovered more than a hundred other organic components, of which royalactin and some flavonoids stand out.
All of these are responsible for giving queen bee food a number of beneficial properties. Since there are lots of flavonoids, this substance also has these characteristics:
- Antioxidant
- Anti-aging
- Anti-inflammatory
- Neurotrophic
When can it help us?
As we have seen, this substance is a very nutritious food. For humans, however, one should look at it as a dietary supplement that one can take in certain situations. Here we will explain some of them.
Physical and mental healing
Queen food can stimulate mental and physical functions in the elderly. A study from the Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine reveals that after being treated with queen bee food, the mice in the experiment showed a lower level of stress hormones.
In humans, the study showed an improvement in mental health after taking queen bee food for six months.
Restoration of tissues and scars
Queen food can actually help heal wounds. In direct and in vitro studies, they found that queen bee food shortens the healing period of wounds and peeling skin. Both topically and orally, it can help with skin problems.
Antibacterial activity
There is scientific literature available on the antibacterial activity of this substance and some of its components, primarily against gram-positive bacteria. However, this is not the case with gram-negative bacteria where it is not as effective.
In addition , some studies have linked this substance with antimicrobial effects against some bacteria that are resistant to traditional antibiotics. For example, one of them is yellow staphylococci. Further research is needed as bacterial resistance is one of the primary health problems today.
Reduction of oxidative stress
One of the most promising properties is that it is antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Various studies on animals have at least shown this. For example, there is a study published in the journal Neuroscience Letters. It still needs to be tested more on humans, but it shows promising results.
Does bee queen food improve our immune system?
Queen bee food has antibacterial properties, making it useful in fighting infections. In addition, it opens up a vast area of research that scientists will need to explore further.
However, we can not say the same about whether it improves the immune system. It would be risky to claim that queen bee food is good for the immune system when science does not point in that direction. We need more research to be able to come up with that kind of recommendation.
The best tips we can follow to keep our immune system strong and healthy are:
- Eating a healthy and balanced diet based on fresh foods that provide all the nutrition one needs.
- Eating foods rich in probiotics, which are the best food for one’s intestines.
- To exercise physically and stay active every day.
- Getting enough sleep.
- To stay away from stress as much as possible.
- Some supplements can help, but you will need to make sure you ask a specialist and tell them if you have any illnesses or are taking any medications.
There is no evidence that bee queen food really improves our immune system
Just like with propolis and honey, it is very rich in active components such as phenolic acid, terpenes and enzymes. This provides the nutritional properties that benefit our bodies.
The research is promising. However, more studies with humans are needed to ensure that it is a safe dietary supplement. So far, if you have an infection or symptoms, it is always best to talk to your healthcare provider for the best advice.
