A few years ago I holidayed in Vanuatu & this is where I was introduced to Tamanu Oil, little did I know at that time just how incredible this oil is on our skin!

Once again, it’s our Planets medicinal plants that are showing potent therapeutic advantages to our cutaneous (skin) wound healing in our search for low-cost & unlimited approach in alternative medicines. In a recent 2017 study on Tamanu Oil, it was found to be extremely beneficial as an anti-inflammatory & for wound healing.

We know that our skin acts as a protective barrier against physical damage, fluid loss & the invasion of toxic substances, & the opportunistic actions of pathogens entering our bodies. When our skin is wounded (any type of opening or breaking like cuts & grazes), our immune system jumps to action & a whole cascade of functions begin immediately to initiate the healing process. Within this healing process several overlapping events that all require the interplay of many cells, however if this process is significantly delayed or exacerbated by infection for example, the healing process can take a long time, or even, can continue indefinitely! And this is where Tamanu Oil can be of great value!

So, let’s take a look at this tree a little deeper. This hardy tree is a native to us here in Australia, plus in the South Pacific Islands, such as Fiji & Vanuatu. The tree also has many common names such as the beauty tree, Alexandrian laurel & of course Tamanu, botanically it is called Calephyllum inophyllum. Calephyllum comes from two Greek words  – kalos meaning “beautiful” & phyllon meaning “leaf” & inophyllum from inodes meaning “fibrous” & phyllum meaning “leaf” – altogether meaning “a tree with a fibrous leaf.

This tree is regarded as sacred in some Pacific Islands because of it’s excellent growth in sandy soils as a shade tree, and because of it’s beautiful oil. The oil plays a key role medicinally to treat a variety of ailments, mostly skin related such as chapped hands or feet, chillblains, skin cracks, bites, stings, acne, diabetic sores & eczema to name only a few, plus it seems to have the capacity to accelerate wound healing & the growth of new tissue. In Tongan folklore, it was also used for “ghost sickness” or one being thought to be caused by ancestral spirits.

Tamanu Oil, it really is another gift from our amazing planet Earth!

References available upon request