Meet the brains behind the unique recipe for our wellness pralines - Doctor Stefan Stângaciu- a medical doctor who dedicated most of his life to studying the medicinal use of bee products and has presented scientific and practical papers on this subject at more than one hundred conferences in over 50 countries. Some of his titles include: Honorary President of the German Apitherapy Society, President of the Romanian Apitherapy Society, Secretary-General of the International Federation of Apitherapy, amongst others.

He believes that the solution to combating all diseases and suffering is “ through combining the best of the Eastern medical systems with the best of the Western ones”, they do not need to compete but, rather, they can complement each other.

Dr. Stângaciu is considered a ‘Guru’ in the world of Apitherapy - a therapeutic system that is based on the use of bee products. Although 20 years ago the pharmaceutical industry used to say that methods like apitherapy (as well as acupuncture, homeopathy, ayurveda, etc.) are “not scientifical enough”, today it’s becoming very hard for them to defend this position as there is plenty of scientific evidence that shows the contrary. It is acknowledged by some official bodies such as FAO who defines apitherapy as “a medical concept, based on scientific foundations”; however, sadly, the legislation in many countries including the UK and EU support the pharmaceutical field’s views and currently no health claims around bee products and most natural products are allowed.

But the facts speak for themselves: today countries like Germany and China invest millions of dollars in scientific studies on natural products including bee products. The NHS in the UK (as well as other countries) use large amounts of honey -called medical honey- to treat wounds; Japan is currently purchasing tons of propolis to use in the medical field…to name just a few.

Also, “today’s medicine is preventative medicine” adds Dr. Stângaciu. This gives natural products -especially those from the beehive- an opportunity to gain the respect they deserve.

According to Research and Markets forecast, the Global Apiculture Market will reach the size of US$10.074 billion by 2023, increasing from US$8.378 billion in 2017. The main ‘players’ in this field with a number of well-known scientists and practitioners in Apitherapy are: Germany, Romania, Cuba, Russia, China, Japan, Lithuania, Taiwan, Korea, Ukraine, Poland, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, USA and Canada.

It is no surprise that people all over the world have turned towards the use of natural/ecological/ biological foods, products and therapies for a reason. It is simply not sustainable to live the way many of us do nowadays: in crowded, polluted buzzing cities, consuming heavily processed foods, working in offices for long hours, under pressure and stress and not getting any fresh air for a whole week. Then, when feeling sick, we take paracetamol to kill the pain or numb a developing cold ASAP as we just need to ‘keep going’. At some point, something has got to give. Our bodies aren’t machines and we all know that. That is why so often these days we hear stories of people who have left the corporate sector and started a hippy life travelling the world or moved to the countryside and started their own local business. We are naturally inclined towards nature whether we realize it or not. The same applies to health and healing- too many people have personally experienced how natural medicine and practices have had a very positive and often surprising impact on their health and wellbeing.

Dr Stângaciu’s lifelong study of the bees and bee products led him to the conclusion that the most powerful and effective way to use all the goodness the bee hive offers to mankind is through combining its’ most precious products into one. Considering there is a whole list of health benefits which are believed to be associated with each bee product individually -including immune health support, an energy boost, body strengthening, balancing the physiological effects of stress- consuming all of them at once allows the cells of our body to receive an incredibly rich variety of substances which may lead to a very effective healing effect. Additionally to this, Dr. Stângaciu was always a big fan of chocolate which he loves for its taste but equally for its health benefits. “Most of us love chocolate as it is a rich source of magnesium and our bodies naturally crave for this mineral as there aren’t many sources of it in our food. Magnesium is essential to proper brain and heart function; there are over 300 enzymes in our body which need this mineral to work correctly” he says.   

He thought combining the bee products with high quality cocoa will make a truly ‘perfect’ product. That is how the recipe for the wellness pralines (originally called api-pralines) has been created. A combination of royal jelly, bee pollen, propolis, raw honey and Apilarnil- all gathered from the remote areas of Romania- Transylvania, covered in high quality dark chocolate. It has the form of a chocolate praline which is a lovely treat to have at any time of the day especially when feeling run down, weak and/or stressed.

It is also a fantastic product to give to children over 12 months old as most of them love the taste and can benefit from having bee products in their diet which they wouldn’t consume otherwise.

Despite the fact that our world has become so industrialized and commercialized and having access to clean water, air and greenery has become a luxury in many parts of the world, it is encouraging to see various individuals and businesses taking initiative to make a difference and helping bring nature and its powers closer to us- whether it’s through creating a sustainable and ethical business, planting trees or promoting natural and healthy food- every bit counts. Ultimately, we need nature more than it needs us, don’t we?