Royal Jelly Benefits (and a fudge recipe!) (2024)

Royal jelly benefits may include helping increase your fertility by providing your body with important nutrients.

This “jelly” is actually secreted by the worker bees within a hive and used to feed all growing larvae for three days. When the hive needs a new queen bee, a larva is selected and placed within a specially constructed queen cell. These particular cells allow for the larvae to be surrounded with copious amounts of this royal jelly, which feed her during her entire growth period whereas the non-fertile worker bees are only fed this jelly in their beginning growth stage.

Feeding larvae like this signal the development of a queen, which includes the formation of the ovaries needed to lay eggs.

Royal Jelly Benefits

While absent of the ever important fat-soluble vitamins, it remains a good source of B vitamins, protein, small amounts of amino acids and fatty acids, as well trace minerals, some enzymes, and trace amounts of vitamin C.

Studies on royal jelly:

• A six-month study done in 2012 shows that glucose tolerance and mental health both increased in the subjects and that there may have been an acceleration of conversion from DHEA-S to Testosterone.
• A 2005 study on sheep suggests that it supports fertility and increases the rates of pregnancy.
• It’s also been shown in some studies to balance hormones and increase egg health.

However, more research needs to be done to see how it impacts fertility. Much of the information available is from small studies or personal testimonials and there is simply no hard proof that the royal jelly that supports a bee’s ovary production will do the same for ours. Or at what dosage this might occur.

If you want to give it a shot, royal jelly can be taken in capsule form and is often sold as a mixture with raw honey and bee propolis.

I actually bought a royal jelly complex(available on Amazon) awhile back. To be honest, I bought this complex just because it was available locally, but along with raw honey and royal jelly it also contains American ginseng, bee pollen (rich in amino acids and studies have shown that it helps increase libido, improves ovarian function, and alleviates PMS), and bee propolis (known to stimulate the immune system and relieve inflammation).

It tastes rather sweet due to the honey, so it was pleasant to take, but I was finding it difficult to take regularly. Sometimes I’d put some in a smoothie, other times I’d just take a spoonful, although that was not my favorite way. The blend I purchased had a weird texture and aftertaste when eaten alone.

Plus, I just couldn’t seem to remember to take it!

But last night, brilliance hit.

Let’s make fudge

I’ve madefreezer fudge many different times with honey, why not with royal jelly?

Todd always tells me that I make enough stuff, at some point, I’ll get it right…(he’s so funny).

This raw fudge recipe is full of the goodness of royal jelly, the richness of cacao, and good fats for your fertility.

I’d say that a small piece of fudge sounds like a fantastic way to get a bit of extra nourishment!

*I like to include peanut butter or almond butter in mine for some protein as well. This way I’m getting protein along with the fat from coconut oil and the natural sugar from the honey. Seems to me that it would round out the macro-nutrients a bit better this way.

*While I think that royal jelly does have its benefits, do be aware that it takes bees a lot of work to produce and each hive has only a small amount for the queen, so it’s not the most sustainable supplement.