Effect of Honeybee Products on Exercise Performance and Blood Chemistry Characteristics in Gymnasts

Honeybee products have recently begun to attract attention with their effects on athlete performance. In the present study, itwas aimed to investigate the effects of honeybee products’ mixtures on the performance and some blood biochemicalparameters of young trained gymnasts. Twenty-four young gymnasts aged between 6 and 12 years were observed for 4 weeksas they continued their usual daily training schedules. The gymnasts were divided into three groups. Group 1 was administereda mixture of honey and bee pollen at a dose of 50 g/day, whereas Group 2 was provided with a mixture of honey, bee pollen,royal jelly and propolis. Group 3 served as the control group and was administered a placebo of wheat starch at a dose of50g/day. In the beginning and at the end of the study, performance parameters and biochemical parameters of young gymnastswere determined. After treatment, grip force and muscular strength measurements increased in Group 2 (p<0.05). The muscularendurance tests in the two honeybee product mixtures treatment groups showed improvement after supplementation (p<0.05).The improvement noted in the power test in Group 1 was significantly higher than the other groups (p<0.05). There was nosignificant difference between treatment and placebo groups in all investigated biochemical parameters except total protein,which was lower in placebo group. Although bee products supplements were administered only for a short period of time, thegymnasts showed higher performance in some investigated parameters. It is recommended to conduct further long-term studiesusing bee products.