What are royal jelly benefits and side effects every ethical consumer must know? Here are royal jelly pros and cons and how buying them will impact your health, the environment, animals and laborers.
Food is something we consume every day. If you’re like me, you do all the research you can to make sure you don’t hurt yourself, the planet, animals or others when shopping. As an ethical consumer myself, I am giving you all the info I’ve found on royal jelly benefits and side effects.
You are going to learn all about royal jelly benefits and side effects. This will include royal jelly benefits for your health and potential risks, royal jelly water footprint and carbon footprint, sustainability, if royal jelly is vegan or impact animals in other ways, and much more.
After learning if royal jelly is good or bad for you, the environment, animals and human rights, you will be able to make the best choices you can the next time you buy food.
This post is all about royal jelly benefits and side effects that every ethical consumer should know.
Top Royal Jelly Benefits And Side Effects
HEALTH
Energy: royal jelly is good for / helps increase tear secretion, treat chronic dry eyes
Longevity: royal jelly is good for / helps boost immunity, detoxification, detoxification, reduce inflammation, reduce the risk of heart disease
Appearance: royal jelly is good for / helps skin repair, wound healing
Royal jelly is…
- Gluten Free
- Not a common Food Allergen
ENVIRONMENT
Water footprint: unknown
Carbon footprint: unknown
Destruction: high, royal jelly production is relatively destructive, bee diseases from honey production disrupts nature’s pollination systems critical to sustaining flora and fauna, bees are a vital component in ecological networks, unsustainable agriculture, diseases and habitat degradation have placed significant pressures on many species of bees, causing widespread declines
Royal jelly is…
- Unsustainable
ANIMALS
Kills: honey bee larvae, no bees need to be killed in order to produce royal jelly, however, beekeepers must use honey bee eggs to set up a fake hive without a queen to trick nurse bees to fill the egg cups with a protein-rich excretion from the glands of worker bees (a honey bee version of mother’s milk), before the larvae hatches the beekeeper takes the nurtured larvae from the staged hive to harvest royal jelly
Harms: bees, diseases spread when beekeepers mix and selectively breed different species of bees, queen bees commonly have their wings clipped by beekeepers to prevent them leaving the hive
Indirectly kills or harms: wildlife and ecosystems, bees and other vital pollinators, the unintentional spread of diseases is inevitable and spread when producing honey and royal jelly, threatening and killing various bee populations as well as other vital pollinators such as birds, bats, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps, small mammals, the mass breeding of honeybees impacts the populations of other competing nectar-foraging insects, including un-farmed “wild” bees, since the quantities of farmed bees is inflated, native bumblebees are threatened and their numbers continue to decline
Royal jelly is…
- Not Vegan
- Harmful to wildlife and ecosystems
LABORERS
Health and safety: varies, overall, agriculture continues to be one of the most dangerous industries, farmworkers may be subject to dehydration, heat stroke, unprotected exposure to harmful, toxic chemicals and pesticides, unsafe machinery and clean drinking water may not always accessible
Living conditions: varies, laborers are often exploited, they may face tough working conditions including long hours in the sun and heat performing physically exhausting tasks, labor laws and rights may or may not be in place, even if worker protection exists, employer violations may go unreported, refugees and migrant workers are especially vulnerable to abuse and mistreatment, fearing consequences of job loss or deportation
Wages: varies, generally farmworkers earn meager wages, there are many cases of underpaid agricultural workers, wage theft and no overtime payment or benefits
Royal jelly…
- May involve worker exploitation, laborer issues, human rights concerns
Where does most royal jelly come from?
The world’s top royal jelly exporting country is Indonesia, followed by China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Spain, Singapore, Thailand, USA, New Zealand and Australia.
Is royal jelly nutritious?
Royal jelly contains all eight essential amino acids, vitamins, minerals, hormonal-like substances, and pantothenic acid (vitamin B5). Additionally, royal jelly contains nutrients like Thiamine, Riboflavin, Pantothenic acid, Pyridoxine, Niacin, Folic acid, Inositol, Biotin
royal jelly is likely gluten free.
Is royal jelly gluten free? Royal jelly is typically gluten free. Royal jelly does not contain gluten.
While celiac disease may not be as rampant as many marketing trends lead us to believe, you may have a gluten sensitivity…
Celiac and gluten sensitivity symptoms are similar and may include:
- recurring abdominal pain
- chronic diarrhea
- constipation
- tingling
- numbness in hands and feet
- chronic fatigue
- joint pain
- unexplained infertility
- low bone density (osteopenia or osteoporosis)
There are hundreds of potential symptoms, many of which are also symptoms of other conditions.
Going gluten-free easier than ever with this: Gluten and Gluten Free Foods List
royal jelly is not a common food allergen.
Is royal jelly a common food allergen? No, royal jelly is not a common food allergen. Some people may experience allergic reactions to royal jelly but it is relatively rare by comparison.
A group of the eight major allergenic foods, AKA the Big-8, include:
- milk
- eggs
- fish
- crustacean shellfish
- tree nuts
- peanuts
- wheat
- soybeans
These foods account for about 90% of all food allergies in the United States.
Severe food allergies can be life threatening. Following ingestion of a food allergen, a person with food allergies can experience a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis.
Persons may still be allergic to and have serious reactions to foods other than the eight foods identified by the law.
Be aware of common dietary restrictions and food allergens with this: The Big 8 Most Common Food Allergens List
royal jelly is unsustainable.
Overall, is royal jelly eco friendly? Is royal jelly sustainable?
Royal jelly production is relatively unsustainable.
A 2018 Oxford University study – which is the most comprehensive analysis to date of the damage farming does to the planet – found that ‘avoiding meat and dairy is the single biggest way to reduce your impact on Earth’ as animal farming provides just 18% of calories but takes up 83% of our farmland.
Consuming animal products and byproducts is not environmentally friendly and is one of the worst things for the Earth. Not only is meat production wasteful, it causes enormous amounts of pollution. The industry is one of the biggest causes of climate change.
A 2010 United Nations report said that a global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world the worst impacts of climate change.
royal jelly is not vegan.
Is royal jelly vegan? No, royal jelly is not vegan. Royal jelly is the byproduct of a worker nurse bee therefore making it an animal-derived food. Royal jelly, a honey bee secretion that is used in the nutrition of larvae, as well as adult queens, must be used in order to produce royal jelly.
Go vegan for animals!
It’s the best way to help animals and it’s not as difficult as you may think. Speak for animals with your actions, for they cannot speak at all.
Going vegan is easier than ever, at a glance with this: Vegan and Non Vegan Foods List
royal jelly is a product that may or may not have labor issues.
Is royal jelly a product with labor concerns? At this time there are no major concerns with royal jelly production but that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening! It’s important to stay aware of human rights concerns and worker exploitation that may come with specific brands.
Did you know the single largest employer in the world is agriculture? The labor involved behind each and every product cannot go unrecognized.
Sadly, many labor concerns exist around the world in both developed and developing countries. We must be vigilant to ensure what we buy is not contributing to industries that are unfair to their valuable workers. Some known problems include workplace health and safety, child labor, gender inequality, inadequate pay, wage theft and exploitation. Workers can even experience harassment, humiliation and violence and unfair employers often fail to provide laborers with access to shade, drinking water, restrooms and breaks. Consequently, laborers can face nausea, dizziness, heat exhaustion, dehydration and heat stroke -the leading cause of farmworker death!
Such mistreatment is like modern day slavery. Workers are often afraid to report issues because they fear it will result in losing their jobs or deportation.
Fair trade organizations fight to ensure better social, environmental and economic standards.
We can improve people’s lives with foods we eat every day simply by buying products that are certified fair trade.
Sources:
Export of Honey, Royal Jelly and other Apiculture
the benefits of honey, propolis and royal jelly. – NCBI – NIH
University of Reading The Decline of England’s Bees
Bee Culture: royal jelly -a worker bee produced protein-rich mother’s milk
