[beginnerhives]

At work I am in the process of studying the health value of Polycosanols. These are long chain alcohols. The article was explaining the waxes in many seeds and plants. They believe these octacosanols might have cholesterol lowering properties seen in grains. The article also listed many different acids and these long chain alcohols in honey comb. they briefly discussed beekeepers wax as being a significant source of these compounds. I was wondering if there was any extensive study of the health properties in bees wax?

I love to chew on the comb.

 

[Michael Bush]

The only studies I've seen on health benefits or even speculation was that there might be pollen in the wax and that might help with allergies... as for Polycosanols, I don't know but there are some complex things in beeswax, some of which are a mystery to me as far as how they work and how they last. new beeswax is certainly different from old beeswax and very old beeswax is like brittle paper... so I assume some more volitile ingredient evaporates, but on the other hand if you give the bees tha told brittle beeswax, they seem to make it like new again, and I don't know how...

Beeswax Production, Harvesting, Processing and Products by Coggshall and Morse has the most information I've seen on the actual detailed breakdown of what is in beeswax and the research on it. I think you can get it from WICWAS or A.I. Root.

 

[beginnerhives]

By PM request here is the article and a paragraph.

http://ebm.rsmjournals.com/cgi/cont...nd&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT


Beeswax.
The main sources of commercial very long chain fatty alcohols are saponified beeswax and sugarcane wax. Humans have consumed wax in the form of honeycomb for thousands of years, and there is little question that this source has accounted for a significant amount of the VLCFA3 in the food chain. Unhydrolyzed beeswax produced by the honeybee, Apis mellifera, contains about 23% hydrocarbons, 45% wax monoesters, 6% diesters of long chain alcohols with palmitic acid, 1% free alcohols, and 12% free acids (Table 1). Approximately 6% of beeswax is not identifiable (35, 36). The chain length of the predominant hydrocarbons ranges from 25–33, whereas the esterified alcohols are 24–34C in length. Palmitic acid is the major acid found in the ester fraction. The wax also contains about 3% diols and 13% hydroxy acids. Bumblebee wax from Bombus species is similar, with about 37% hydrocarbons, 29% monoesters, and 34% of other, more polar constituents. Evidence suggests that bees synthesize these constituents rather than acquiring them from plants (36).

 

[jbford]

Polycosanol was useless for me.

Took it for 6 mo., no change in blood chemistry.
Took statin drug 10 mg for 6 mo, LDL went down 60 points.


Took fish oil (1200 mg EPA/DHA) and went to low fat diet, triglycerides went down 100 points.

Only way to confirm benefits is don't change diet or exercise, get baseline bloodwork, chew for 2-3 months, get followup bloodwork.

 

[beginnerhives]

Polycosanol was useless for me.

Took it for 6 mo., no change in blood chemistry.
Took statin drug 10 mg for 6 mo, LDL went down 60 points.


Took fish oil (1200 mg EPA/DHA) and went to low fat diet, triglycerides went down 100 points.

Only way to confirm benefits is don't change diet or exercise, get baseline bloodwork, chew for 2-3 months, get followup bloodwork.

I am studying wheat germ oil and its content of octacosanols. They were they are believed to contribute to wheat germs ability to increase stamina and physical endurance.