Tualang honey benefits bones.

Tualang honey benefits come from the tree where bees select their pollen: the tualang tree.  Tualang trees are extremely tall trees found only in the jungles of South East Asia. Bees collect pollen and nectar from various wild flowers in the area and many think this is the reason why this honey has been shown to have so many beneficial effects.

NOTE: This special honey is also known as Koompasia excelsa or Semerak honey.

 Tualang Honey benefits are many

 Tualang honey does more than buildinf stronger bones.  This special honey decreases  the wound size of burns and provides  control of burn infections. It exerts  anti-oxidant activities against pancreatic cells and so it reduces hyperglycemia in diabetic models. It has also shown to have strong anti-cancer activity AND what is of  most interest to readers of this site, it has been shown to increase the building of trabecular bone -  the inner bone that is so important for having 'strong bones'.

Scientific studies concerning its effect on bone.

1.A study at the Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil published in November of 2012 concluded that tualang honey built trabecular bone in labaratory rats better than supplemental calcium. 

See: Tualang honey benefits: building trabecular bone

2. There are also studies with  postmenopausal women that showed positive effects of this honey on bone density.

     A.. One  was done by H. Lily, N. H. Nik Hazlina, S. Siti Amrah, et al.,and it was published in  Proceedings of the 2nd International  Conference on the Medicinal Use of Honey, vol. 2 of  Journal of ApiProduct and ApiMedical Science, no. 1, pp. 31–60, Kota Bharu, Malaysia, 2010.

This study reported  " that daily intake of Tualang honey at 20 mg/day for four months was found to be safe and exerted the same effect on bone densitometry when compared to hormone replacement therapy."

 B. A later study (2012) was published in Evidence Based Complementary Alternative Medicine, "The Effects of Tualang Honey on Bone  Metabolism of Postmenopausal Women" by Nadia Mohd Effendy, Norazlina Mohamed, Isa Naina Mohamad and Ahmad Nazrun Shuid.

The ABSTRACT of this study states:   
"Osteoporosis which is characterized by low bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration with a consequent increase in bone fragility can be associated with various stimuli such as oxidative stress and inflammation. Postmenopausal women are more prone to osteoporosis  due to reduction in estrogen which may further  lead to elevation of oxidative stress and lipid accumulation which will promote
 osteoblasts apoptosis. Proinflammatory cytokines are elevated following estrogen deficiency. These cytokines are important  determinants of osteoclasts differentiation and its bone resorption activity. The main treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis is estrogen replacement therapy (ERT). Despite its effectiveness, ERT, however, can cause many adverse effects. Therefore, alternative  treatment that is rich in antioxidant and can exert an anti-inflammatory effect can be given to replace the conventional ERT.

 Tualang honey is one of the best options available as it contains antioxidant as well as exerting anti-inflammatory effect which can act as a free radical scavenger, reducing the oxidative stress level as well as inhibiting proinflammatory cytokine. This will result in survival of osteoblasts, reduced osteoclastogenic activity, and consequently, reduce bone loss. Hence, Tualang honey can be used as an alternative treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis with minimal side effects.

Studies showing other Tualang honey benefits: 

Here is a list of other articles that might be of interest if you want to learn some of the other Tualang honey benefits.

1. Fauzi AN, Norazmi MN, Yaacob NS. Tualang honey induces apoptosis and disrupts the mitochondrial membrane potential of human breast and cervical cancer cell lines. Food Chem Toxicol. 2011;49(4):871-8.    

2. Ghashm AA, Othman NH, Khattak MN, Ismail NM, Saini R. Antiproliferative effect of Tualang honey on oral squamous cell carcinoma and osteosarcoma cell lines. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2010;10:49.         [

3. Ahmad I, Jimenez H, Yaacob NS, Yusuf N. Tualang Honey Protects Keratinocytes from Ultraviolet Radiation-Induced Inflammation and DNA Damage(dagger). Photochem Photobiol. 2012;88(5):1198-204.

4. Nurul Syazana MS, Halim AS, Gan SH, Shamsuddin S. Antiproliferative effect of methanolic extraction of tualang honey on human keloid fibroblasts. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2011;11:82.

5. Othman Z, Shafin N, Zakaria R, Hussain NH, Mohammad WM. Improvement in immediate memory after 16 weeks of tualang honey (Agro Mas) supplement in healthy postmenopausal women. Menopause. 2011;18(11):1219-24, 

6. Khoo YT, Halim AS, Singh KK, Mohamad NA. Wound contraction effects and antibacterial properties of Tualang honey on full-thickness burn wounds in rats in comparison to hydrofibre. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2010;10:48, 

7. Erejuwa OO, Sulaiman SA, Wahab MS, Sirajudeen KN, Salleh MS, Gurtu S. Antioxidant protection of Malaysian tualang honey in pancreas of normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Ann Endocrinol (Paris). 2010;71(4):291-6.

Isn't this amazing?  Surely we can add to the list of Tualang honey benefits that  is that it is the sweetest bone builder we shall use! 

Buying: Tualang honey

It used to be very difficult to buy Tualang honey. Few shops outside Malaysia carried it. But the Internet has changed things.  You can now buy authentic Tualang Honey on Amazon. But be aware. I recently bought some from a company called Maduland and instead of getting the usual thick Tualang honey, I received a product with the consistency of syrup. Very unlike the Tualang homey I have bought in the past so I would make any future purchases of my own from  a different company on Amazon.           Below is the link to Amazon but be sure to keep scrolling until you reach Tualang Honey. Manuka and the other honeys listed will not do the job. Shop for   Tualang Honey

If you have used Tualang Honey and would like to share your experience with others, I invite you to use the form below. Be sure to include the word, Tualang somewhere in your post so I know where to place your comments. A sweet bone builder for sure...