Humans Benefit from Bee Susceptibility to Infection

[Guest guest]

Sorry the other thingy posted by mistake!

Here is the full article:

Humans Benefit from Bee Susceptibility to Infection

pg. 223, 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth by Dr. Jonny Bowden

from chapter, Bee Pollen, Propolis and Royal Jelly

Propolis is well known for its antimicrobial activity. It's been show to have

antibacterial effect (against Staphylococcus aureus) as well as an antifungal

effect (against Candida albicans, or yeas), and even an antiviral effect

(against Avian influenza virus). It's really not so surprising that bee products

like propolis would have such powerful antibiotic effects. Any beekeeper will

tell you that bees are very susceptible to bacterial and viral infections. From

a sheer Darwinian point of view, it makes survival sense that the very material

that they " caulk " their hives with would be highly protective against the the

microbes that could easily destroy them.

One recent study, in the July 2006 issue of International Immunopharmacology,

suggested that the anti-inflammatory activities of propolis might make it a

novel therapeutic agent for asthma. (One of the flavonoids found in bee pollen

is the powerful anti-inflammatory quercetin). And a paper in the Journal of

Ethnopharmacology om 2005 found that propolis stimulates antibody production,

perhaps accounting for its reputation as an immune-system builder.