Royal Jelly

Evidence ratings on NutraSmarts are based on the totality of human clinical research, with emphasis on randomized controlled trials, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews. The references below directly support claims made throughout this page.

1. Sharif SN, Darsareh F. Effect of royal jelly on menopausal symptoms: A randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2019;37:47-50. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2019.08.006.PubMedUsed to support: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 200 Iranian postmenopausal women aged 45 to 60 taking 1,000 mg/day of royal jelly or placebo for 8 weeks in Bandar Abbas, June to November 2018. Baseline menopausal scores were similar between groups; after 8 weeks the score fell significantly within the royal jelly group and did not fall significantly within the placebo group. The reported result is a within-arm change rather than a statistical comparison of royal jelly against placebo, and the authors state further research is necessary to confirm the effect.
2. Chiu HF, Chen BK, Lu YY, Han YC, Shen YC, Venkatakrishnan K, Golovinskaia O, Wang CK. Hypocholesterolemic efficacy of royal jelly in healthy mild hypercholesterolemic adults. Pharm Biol. 2017;55(1):497-502. doi: 10.1080/13880209.2016.1253110.PubMedUsed to support: Randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 40 adults with mild hypercholesterolaemia (180 to 200 mg/dL) taking nine 350 mg royal jelly capsules daily, about 3.15 g/day, or placebo for 3 months. Total cholesterol fell from 207 to 183 mg/dL and LDL cholesterol from 126 to 120 mg/dL after royal jelly (p<0.05), while triglycerides and HDL were not considerably altered, DHEA-S rose, and liver and kidney tests were unaffected. The reported result is a change after supplementation rather than a head-to-head comparison against placebo, and 40 people is a small sample.
3. Matsushita H, Shimizu S, Morita N, Watanabe K, Wakatsuki A. Effects of royal jelly on bone metabolism in postmenopausal women: a randomized, controlled study. Climacteric. 2021;24(2):164-170. doi: 10.1080/13697137.2020.1806815.PubMedUsed to support: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 72 healthy postmenopausal women aged 45 to 60 and within 5 years of menopause, taking dried royal jelly equivalent to 3,000 mg of fresh royal jelly or placebo daily for 6 months. Over 6 months the placebo group lost femoral bone mineral density significantly and deteriorated on hip structural analysis, while no significant change was found in those measures in the royal jelly group. The bone turnover markers P1NP and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase fell significantly in the placebo group, and P1NP did not change significantly in the royal jelly group. The authors conclude royal jelly may ameliorate decreases in femoral bone density and strength. The finding rests on a difference in within-group significance rather than a reported royal jelly versus placebo comparison. This trial measured bone density and bone turnover, not fertility.
4. Bullock RJ, Rohan A, Straatmans JA. Fatal royal jelly-induced asthma. Med J Aust. 1994;160(1):44..PubMedUsed to support: Reports a death from asthma following royal jelly ingestion, published as a letter responding to an earlier Medical Journal of Australia report of royal jelly induced asthma. The letter carries no abstract, so the published record establishes that a fatality occurred rather than the clinical detail of the case.
5. Leung R, Thien FC, Baldo B, Czarny D. Royal jelly-induced asthma and anaphylaxis: clinical characteristics and immunologic correlations. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1995;96(6 Pt 1):1004-7. doi: 10.1016/s0091-6749(95)70242-3.PubMedUsed to support: Original report of royal jelly induced asthma and anaphylaxis with clinical characteristics and immunologic correlations, from the same Alfred Hospital group in Melbourne that published the 1996 immunologic study. No abstract is indexed for this article, so its numbers and patient details are not in the public record. It is a harms report rather than efficacy evidence, and the same line of work as the 1996 paper rather than an independent confirmation.
6. Thien FC, Leung R, Baldo BA, Weiner JA, Plomley R, Czarny D. Asthma and anaphylaxis induced by royal jelly. Clin Exp Allergy. 1996;26(2):216-22. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2222.1996.tb00082.x.PubMedUsed to support: Case series of 7 people who developed asthma, in some cases with anaphylaxis, after eating royal jelly. Skin-prick tests, IgE immunoassays and protein blotting confirmed true IgE-mediated hypersensitivity, with 18 IgE-binding royal jelly components detected and one of about 55 kDa bound by every reactive serum. IgE reactivity to royal jelly was also found in 38% of 63 bee-venom-allergic sera and 52% of 75 sera from people with inhalant or food allergy, though the authors state there is no direct relationship between bee venom and royal jelly IgE reactivity and that the clinical meaning of the control-serum antibodies is unknown. Seven patients, a harms report rather than a trial, and the same line of work as the 1995 report by this group.
7. Leung R, Ho A, Chan J, Choy D, Lai CK. Royal jelly consumption and hypersensitivity in the community. Clin Exp Allergy. 1997;27(3):333-6..PubMedUsed to support: Cross-sectional survey of 1,472 hospital employees in Hong Kong. 461 (31.3%) had taken royal jelly, and 9 subjects reported 14 adverse reactions including urticaria, eczema, rhinitis and acute asthma. Skin testing to pure royal jelly was positive in 13 of 176 survey respondents (7.4%) and 23 of 300 consecutive asthma clinic attendees (7.3%); all but one of the 36 skin-test-positive subjects were atopic to other common allergens, and a positive royal jelly skin test was strongly associated with atopy (odds ratio 33.73, 95% CI 4.51 to 252.11). A survey, not a trial, and the authors note the relationship between skin test positivity and actual clinical reactions remains to be defined.
8. Yonei Y, Shibagaki K, Tsukada N, Nagasu N, Inagaki Y, Miyamoto K, Suzuki O, Kiryu Y. Case report: haemorrhagic colitis associated with royal jelly intake. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 1997;12(7):495-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1746.1997.tb00472.x.PubMedUsed to support: Single case of a 53-year-old woman with abdominal pain and bloody diarrhoea after taking royal jelly for 25 days. Colonoscopy showed haemorrhagic, oedematous mucosa throughout 20 cm of sigmoid colon, and a drug-induced lymphocyte stimulation test was slightly positive for royal jelly. Symptoms resolved within a few days and the colonic lesions within two weeks on conservative therapy. One case report, so it shows this can happen, not how often.
9. Lee NJ, Fermo JD. Warfarin and royal jelly interaction. Pharmacotherapy. 2006;26(4):583-6. doi: 10.1592/phco.26.4.583.PubMedUsed to support: Single case of an 87-year-old man whose INR had been stable at 1.9 to 2.4 on long-term warfarin and who presented with haematuria and an INR of 6.88, rising to 7.29 in hospital, one week after starting royal jelly. The authors note no other change in his drugs, diet or condition. A case report rather than a pharmacokinetic study.
10. Guo H, Saiga A, Sato M, Miyazawa I, Shibata M, Takahata Y, Morimatsu F. Royal jelly supplementation improves lipoprotein metabolism in humans. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2007;53(4):345-8. doi: 10.3177/jnsv.53.345.PubMedUsed to support: Controlled study in 15 volunteers, 7 of whom took 6 g/day of royal jelly for 4 weeks. Serum total cholesterol and LDL fell significantly compared with the control group (p<0.05), while HDL and triglycerides did not differ, and small very-low-density lipoprotein decreased. Fifteen people is a very small sample, the dose is far above what royal jelly capsules typically provide, and the work was carried out at a food company research centre.
11. Abdelhafiz AT, Muhamad JA. Midcycle pericoital intravaginal bee honey and royal jelly for male factor infertility. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2008;101(2):146-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ijgo.2007.11.012.PubMedUsed to support: Crossover study in 99 Egyptian couples with asthenozoospermia comparing midcycle pericoital intravaginal application of a bee honey and royal jelly mixture against intrauterine insemination. Across 553 cycles analysed there were 23 pregnancies (8.1% per cycle) with the honey and royal jelly mixture versus 7 (2.6%) with insemination (p<0.001). The preparation was placed in the vagina rather than swallowed, and it was a honey and royal jelly mixture rather than royal jelly alone, so it does not show what an oral royal jelly supplement does.
12. Morita H, Ikeda T, Kajita K, Fujioka K, Mori I, Okada H, Uno Y, Ishizuka T. Effect of royal jelly ingestion for six months on healthy volunteers. Nutr J. 2012;11:77. doi: 10.1186/1475-2891-11-77.PubMedUsed to support: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 61 healthy volunteers aged 42 to 83 taking 3,000 mg/day of royal jelly in 100 mL of liquid or placebo for 6 months; 30 royal jelly and 26 placebo participants were analysed. Adjusted mean changes differed between groups for red blood cell count, haematocrit, fasting plasma glucose, insulinogenic index, DHEA-S, testosterone, the testosterone to DHEA-S ratio, and the mental health subscale of the SF-36. Many outcomes were tested at once without a single prespecified primary endpoint, so the individual findings need replication, but the trial does show 3 g/day was tolerated for 6 months.
13. Asama T, Matsuzaki H, Fukushima S, Tatefuji T, Hashimoto K, Takeda T. Royal Jelly Supplementation Improves Menopausal Symptoms Such as Backache, Low Back Pain, and Anxiety in Postmenopausal Japanese Women. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2018;2018:4868412. doi: 10.1155/2018/4868412.PubMedUsed to support: Randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 42 healthy Japanese postmenopausal women taking 800 mg/day of protease-digested lyophilised royal jelly, standardised to at least 3.5% 10-HDA and 0.6% 10-HDAA, or 800 mg dextrin placebo for 12 weeks. All 42 completed. Between-group differences reached significance at 12 weeks for anxiety (p=0.046) and for backache and low back pain (p=0.040), with no significant differences at 4 weeks, and no side effects were observed in either group. Five of the six authors are employees of Yamada Bee Company, a royal jelly producer that supplied the test product, and the sixth received a medical advisory fee from the same company.
14. Ferraz SD, Stangherlin L, Colonetti T, Rodrigues Uggioni ML, Specht Taschetto I, Ceretta L, Grande AJ, Rosa MID. Royal jelly for management of postmenopausal symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Menopause. 2026;33(4):501-509. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000002688.PubMedUsed to support: Systematic review searching MEDLINE, LILACS, Embase and the Cochrane Library through May 2025. Of 281 records identified, 6 studies in 471 postmenopausal women, published between 2011 and 2021, were included. The pooled standardised mean difference favouring royal jelly was 0.73 (95% CI 0.50 to 0.96, p<0.00001, I-squared 0%, moderate quality by GRADE), and that estimate is drawn from only 2 of the 6 studies, covering 312 women. A review of existing trials, not a new trial. The authors report no conflicts of interest.
15. Pi X, Yang Y, Guo Q, Shen L. Spontaneous pregnancy in a woman with diminished ovarian reserve following dietary supplementation with major royal jelly proteins: A case report. Medicine (Baltimore). 2026;105(25):e49345. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000049345.PubMedUsed to support: A single 35-year-old woman with hormonally diagnosed diminished ovarian reserve conceived naturally after 4 weeks of taking 1 g of lyophilised major royal jelly protein powder twice daily, with no gastrointestinal or allergic reactions reported. The authors describe the observation as non-generalisable, note that lifestyle confounders were not objectively monitored, and state that a randomized double-blind trial has been arranged. One person, no control group.
16. Taavoni S, Barkhordari F, Goushegir A, Haghani H. Effect of Royal Jelly on premenstrual syndrome among Iranian medical sciences students: a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled study. Complement Ther Med. 2014;22(4):601-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2014.05.004.PubMedUsed to support: Randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 110 Iranian female medical sciences students with premenstrual syndrome taking one 1,000 mg royal jelly capsule or placebo daily for two menstrual cycles. Premenstrual Profile scores fell from 23.17 to 11.42 with royal jelly and from 21.48 to 20.27 with placebo; the between-group difference in change was 10.54 points (95% CI 6.10 to 14.98).
17. Suzuki KM, Isohama Y, Maruyama H, Yamada Y, Narita Y, Ohta S, Araki Y, Miyata T, Mishima S. Estrogenic activities of Fatty acids and a sterol isolated from royal jelly. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2008;5(3):295-302. doi: 10.1093/ecam/nem036.PubMedUsed to support: Cell and binding study: four compounds isolated from royal jelly, including 10-HDA and 24-methylenecholesterol, bound weakly to estrogen receptor beta (more weakly than phytoestrogens), activated an estrogen-responsive reporter gene and increased MCF-7 breast cancer cell growth. Laboratory evidence only.
18. Ma C, Ahmat B, Li J. Effect of queen cell numbers on royal jelly production and quality. Curr Res Food Sci. 2022;5:1818-1825. doi: 10.1016/j.crfs.2022.10.014.PubMedUsed to support: Royal jelly production study stating that the international standard ISO 12824:2016 sets a minimum of 1.4% 10-HDA, and that major royal jelly proteins (MRJP1 to MRJP9) make up about 90% of soluble royal jelly protein.