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Anti-ageing effect of Royal Jelly boosts testosterone
We've written recently about the testosterone boosting effect of Royal Jelly on rabbits and rats. Researchers at the Japanese company Hayashibara discovered that Royal Jelly had the same effect in golden hamsters – and they discovered something that looks like a mechanism.
Androgenic effect of Royal jelly
The androgenic effects of Royal Jelly are not a scientific novelty. Back in 1962 Japanese researchers discovered that when injected with ether extracts of Royal Jelly, rats and mice started producing more sperm. In 1988 other Japanese researchers repeated these experiments and observed that as a result of the injections "the weight of the testes, epididymides, seminal vesicles and prostate glands of male mice increased". [Tokyo Vet. Anim. Sci. 1988 35, 1-4.]
Study
In 2004 researchers at Hayashibara wanted to find out whether Royal Jelly had the same effects when administered orally. So they gave 32-week-old golden hamsters Royal Jelly mixed into their feed for 12 weeks. One kilogram of feed for one group contained 50 mg Royal Jelly; another group was given 10 times this quantity. A control group got feed with no additives. The table below shows that the golden hamsters got 2.3 and 24.2 mg Royal Jelly per kilogram bodyweight each day. That's not a lot.
Results
The concentration of free testosterone in the lab animals' testes just about doubled as a result of the supplement.
The researchers found less lipid hydroperoxide [LPO] in the animals' blood. LPO is released as a result of free radical activity. It's a dual marker of ageing processes: the more LPO an organism's blood contains, the faster the organism ages, and the further it has already aged.
The researchers believe that Royal Jelly supplementation not only increased the testosterone level of their golden hamsters, but also prevented the testosterone level from declining as a result of ageing. The animals were of an age that the body's own testosterone production starts to decline.
Conclusion
"The finding that the long-term daily intake of Royal Jelly inhibited the generation of LPO suggests that Royal Jelly could protect organs from free radical-induced cellular damage", the Japanese write in their conclusion. "These results further prompt us to speculate that Royal Jelly may have the oxygen free radical scavenging function in addition to the gonadotropic hormone function, and thereby inhibited the decline of male testicular function."
Source:
Food Sci. Technol. Res., 10 (4), 420-423, 2004.
More:
Royal Jelly rejuvenates pituitary: animal study 02.04.2011
The Royal Jelly testosterone factor – part 2 21.03.2011
The Royal Jelly testosterone factor 20.03.2011
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