Aside from honey, royal jelly, benefits of bee pollen, health benefits of chewing beeswax natural beauty treatments or bee bread, another notable bee product that you should take notice of is the bee propolis. Bee propolis, or the bee glue is the outcome product of bees by combining saliva and beeswax with exudate sourced from botanical sources such as tree buds or sap flows. It is also used as a sealant for unnecessary open spaces in the hive just like beeswax.
However, the main difference is that propolis is used to seal small gaps measuring 6 mm or less whereas anything larger than that is covered by beeswax. Long story short, propolis exists primarily to protect the hive from extreme weather conditions such as strong winds, rain or snow, reinforce the structure and stability of the hive, minimize vibrations, and also prevent the infection of foreign elements into the hive such as diseases or parasites.
One product of bee propolis for human consumption is the bee propolis capsules. What are the health benefits of bee propolis capsules?
Propolis as Medicine
Propolis has been widely used for traditional and herbal medicines, in which it is known for being an anti-inflammatory, anti-viral as well as anti-fungal ingredient. It can also cure a wide range of disease, such as minor cuts, infection, inflammation, to curing cold sores, post-surgery oral pain, as well as genital herpes.
However, and interestingly, the findings above are either yet to be proven by large scale researches or not properly recorded. The US National Library of Medicine’s website mentions that diseases that may see effective treatment using propolis are oral and genital herpes, post-surgical oral pain and as an anti-inflammation. Other possible health benefits of bee propolis capsules such as oral ulcer, tuberculosis, oral and throat cancer, digestive problems, common cold, cuts and wounds plus others need more concrete results to confirm the ability of propolis in treating the conditions above.
These are the health benefits of eating royal jelly propolis and bee pollen.
What are its Health Benefits?
Here are the benefits of Bee Propolis Capsules:
- Propolis are Natural Anti-inflammatory
Being a natural anti inflammatory agent, propolis capsules can treat a wide range of serious diseases such as arthritis, heart diseases, and so much more. You can reduce inflammation in your body simply by regularly consuming propolis pills. At the end of the day, there will be less disease, which leads you to a healthily long life;
- Propolis are Anti-Bacterial
The idea that propolis are anti-bacterial came from its traditional use for treating viruses related to common cold and flu. The theory has since been expanded after a research that tested the anti-bacterial capabilities of propolis with root canal inside the mouth. Bee propolis was compared with a reputable anti-bacterial agent, calcium hydroxide, and was proven to be more effective in cleansing the mouth from certain germs as compared to calcium hydroxide.
- Propolis Prevents Hypertension
Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure. One vital substance that ensures a healthy heart is the nitric oxide. The less nitric oxide your blood vessel has, the greater the risk of heart attack is. In the meantime, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) limits the amount of nitric oxide you can produce.
Propolis can reduce TH levels, which in return allows more nitric oxide to be produced and less risk of heart attack in return.Â
- Propolis are Effective for Treating Warts
A 2009 International Journal of Dermatology stated that scientists observed that propolis is powerfully resistant against warts. A separate experiment was also held to compare the effects of propolis, placebo as well as echinacea in treating warts. The result was propolis turned out to be the most effective in healing warts with curacy rates as high as 75%.
- Propolis Enhances Athletic Performance
Athletes can suffer from early overheat when their energies aren’t released optimally. Athletic overheat or heat stress cause early fatigue and dehydration, especially if exposed under hot climate. Propolis can prevent this condition thanks to its active compound named caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE). CAPE increases and enhances athletic performance particularly at hot weather, so overheating can also be avoided at best.
- Propolis Protects Dental Injury
Traumatic dental injuries do cause further complications such as inflammation. There was a study done to check whether if propolis could handle inflammation in the event of a dental injury. The result was propolis can indeed do that job properly!
- Propolis Fights Off Cancer Cells
Propolis is also acknowledged to fight off two types of cancer cells at once, namely the colon and prostate cancers. In prostate cancer, propolis tincture remarkably improved cell deaths whereas for colon cancer, the cells are killed by necrosis.
Necrosis is the process of blocking off blood supply to the cancer cells, which cause them to die eventually. Propolis kills cancer cells organically because only the cancer cells themselves are affected, unlike chemotherapy that kills both the cancer and the healthy cells. Â
- Propolis also Help Treat Allergies
The final positive trait of propolis is that it is also effective in treating various kinds of allergies, including the seasonal ones. This claim was made after conducting an experiment of feeding rats with propolis for two weeks. Scientists observed that propolis significantly inhibit histamine release from the rats’ cells.
For your information, histamine is the compound that triggers sneezing, runny nose and watery red eyes, which are none other than the symptoms of common cold. So, propolis help treat allergies by inhibiting the release of histamines the same way like the over-the-counter drugs at the pharmacy.
Dosage Recommendations
- To cure common cold or flu:
500 milligrams of propolis capsules at a dose of once or twice per day.
- To treat female infertility:
500 milligrams of propolis capsules at a dose of twice per day.
Allergic Risks
Propolis may pose allergic reactions, particularly to those who are allergic to bee products or asthmatic people. For example, those who are allergic to propolis may experience oral irritation or blister when having lozenges that contain propolis. Meanwhile, prolonged usage of propolis may lead to swelling, excess of bodily liquids, internal burning sensation, fever or eczema.
Pregnant women as well as breastfeeding women should also stay away from propolis because there are no clear side effects to them.
These are the health benefits of honey for skin and the benefits of honey for eyes.