Royal Jelly Treats Depression and Anxiety?

In a recent study, scientists subjected mice to a combination of swimming for 15 minutes followed by being kept in cages that were sequentially subjected to leaning, drenching, and rotation within 1-2 days for a total of 3 weeks (doesn't sound like much fun) The idea was to over-stress the poor mice and to see how they responded when given Royal Jelly or nothing.

Naturally, symptoms of depression and anxiety appeared in the mice soon after this treatment.

One day after the stress exposure, the animals were evaluated by three tests (the tail-suspension test, elevated plus-maze test, and open-field test) to determine how they handled the stressful events.

Using these experimental systems, the scientists found that a very unique compound found in Royal Jelly called HDEA (10-hydroxy-trans-2-decenoic acid), protected against depression and anxiety when injected once a day for 3 weeks simultaneously with the stress loading.

They went on to conclude that this special compound, HDEA, found naturally within Royal Jelly, is effective in ameliorating the stress-induced symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Now, depression is a very serious condition. Royal Jelly should not replace anyone's medications at this point and much more research needs to be done in humans to determine exactly how much Royal Jelly should be consumed to aid in the symptoms of depression or anxiety.

If you are interested in using Royal Jelly for any mood disorder, I would suggest you only do so under the supervision of a trained health care professional. Naturopathic Doctors are whom I recommend.

I also suggest you consider using an Omega 3 supplement that has additional EPA in it along with a premium multi-vitamin and mineral supplement .

The full study was published in the journal Evidence Based Complementary & Alternative Medice, 2012;2012:139140. Epub 2011 Jul 24.

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