Natural Supplements for Energy

Bee products are commonly associated with increased stamina and are often thought to be Nature’s most effective natural supplement for energy. Bee products include:

• bee pollen
• royal jelly
• propolis
• honey
• beeswax
• bee venom

The two most popular energy supplements are bee pollen and royal jelly, so lets take a closer look at those.

Bee Pollen as a natural energy supplement

Bee pollen is a rich source of protein and contains a range of vitamins and minerals conducive to improving energy and stamina. Looking at the actual vitamin content, we find:

B-1 Thiamin, B-2 Riboflavin, B-3 Nancin, B-5, B-6 Pyridoxine, B-12, Pantothenic acid, Provitamin A, Vitamin C, F, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Vitamin H, Vitamin K

The B group vitamins are connected with energy and stamina and clearly bee pollen contains a broad spectrum of B’s. What is also contains are amino acids, which too have a strong connection with developing energy and stamina, they form the cornerstone of many weight training and weight loss supplements. So people take bee pollen for energy, but what about royal jelly?

Royal Jelly for Energy

Many people use royal jelly for energy, as a natural energy supplement. But what’s in it that connects it with these particular benefits? Again, it contains B Complex vitamins. What specifically are these? The B vitamins play important roles in cell metabolism. Often, they are grouped and classified as simply ‘B’ vitamins, when in actual fact they exist distinctly from each other in many common sources of nutrition. They are:

1. Vitamin B1 (thiamine)
2. Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
3. Vitamin B3 (niacin or niacinamide)
4. Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid)
5. Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine, pyridoxal, or pyridoxamine, or pyridoxine hydrochloride)
6. Vitamin B7 (biotin)
7. Vitamin B9 (folic acid)
8. Vitamin B12 (various cobalamins; commonly cyanocobalamin in vitamin supplements)

The B vitamins are not only important for developing energy, they can also help us cope with chronic fatigue, irritability, anxiety and forms of depression. Conversely, B vitamin deficiency can cause the above symptoms to occur. In terms purely related to energy supplements, B’s help our cells to the metabolism carbohydrates, allowing them to be used by the body for energy rather than storage as fat tissue.

So we can see at least some connection between royal jelly and bee pollen and how they may help as a natural energy supplement.