Neem Oil: All-Healing Wonder Oil
The "village pharmacy" as the sacred Neem tree has been called, has been used for several thousands of years in India and still is being used today. It is one of the most researched herbal remedies in India and it's very potent stuff just as Oregano and Tea Tree Oil are and it’s to be taken with caution. The Neem oil itself is made from the pressed seed kernels grown from the Neem tree, a tropical evergreen that’s originally from India.
Neem oil is an antibacterial, anti-fungal, antiviral, antihistamine, anti-diabetic, anti-pathogen, anti-cancerous, antihepatotoxic, anti-hemorrhoids, anti-pyretic, anti-leprotic, anti-histamine, antiseptic, blood purifying, spermicidal and immune-system boosting oil that is said to do everything from "repelling insects to preventing pregnancy." Neem will improve your liver function, detoxify your blood, is used for the treatment for malaria and diabetes and will generally help you have a healthy circulatory, respiratory and digestive system.
"It's a great family first-aid herb," says Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa, a Seattle-based herbalist and co-author of Herbal Defense (Warner Books, 1997).
Stop Global Warming! Plant a (Neem) Tree!
Growing a Neem tree takes very little water and the roots dig deep through clay to the subsoil and bring up nutrients for other plants surrounding it. In other words Neem Trees like to share. They are able to bring acidic soil back to neutral, therefor other plants survive better around these trees. So I honestly think that planting an abundance of Neem trees in third world countries, where planting of Neem would be ideal due to the climate, would be an extremely beneficial thing for the people living there. The Neem will help with their soil and atmosphere so they can grow more crops as well as give them a “village pharmacy” for all the sick and hurt. Also to make sense out of the title trees love carbon. Carbon is destroying our atmosphere. So? Plant more trees to help with the rising global warming problem, instead of cutting them all down. So why not make it a Neem tree too, especially in the land of the unfortunate.
Uses:
There are A LOT of uses for this miracle oil. Far too many to list. It is definitely a wonder oil with all that it can do if taken in moderation. It can prevent cavities and gingivitis if used in your toothpaste and mouthwash. In creams of 25% with Neem oil added it fights vaginal infections and STD’s. It will kill scabies, ringworm and lice if used in your soap. It can heal athletes foot if mixed with equal parts of vegetable oil and water. It will even repel fleas, ticks, mosquitoes and flies if used undiluted. So be sure to use it in your pets shampoo too! It can be used for psoriasis, acne, eczema, cuts, scrapes, minor burns and ringworm, just use Neem soap and then use a cream with at least 1% Neem oil. Finally, but not really because there is tons more, Neem oil has fatty acids in it which build collagen in your body, so it helps wounds heal and maintains your skins elasticity.
“Test tube and human studies done at India’s Defense Institute of Physiology and Allied Science found that Neem Oil and Indian soap nut extract and quinine was nearly 100% effective as spermicide.”
You can even use Neem oil on your garden in a spray bottle. It will repel biting and sucking insects, animals, fungal infections and of course your health. Because you won’t be eating whatever insecticide you put on your garden that is meant to make a kill zone around your produce. You ever think that when you wash your fruit or veggies in the sink that maybe your not getting all the insecticide off?! If that insecticide is supposed to last through shine and especially through pouring RAIN just like someone turned a tap on over your produce. Don’t you think that cleaning it won’t work that well?! Also that the insecticide you use is supposed to make a kill zone so I would imagine its strong enough to penetrate through your food. Just saying though I don't want to SCARE anybody!!
The uses and studies for Neem oil is endless here are some examples, AIDS, cancer, malaria, diabetes, hepatitis, duodenal ulcers, kidney disorders, fungal infections, yeast infections, STD’s, all kinds of skin disorders, periodontal disease, mononucleosis, blood disorders, heart diseases, nerve disorders, allergies...and so forth.
Dangers:
Parts of the Neem tree can be safely ingested, like the bark and leaves (tea can be made). But ingesting the Neem oil for a long time has been linked to liver dysfunction. Neem shouldn't be ingested in any form if your are pregnant or trying to have a child. For trying to have a child it can hinder that from happening. That doesn't mean you can’t eat the stuff out of your garden that you sprayed Neem on, that won’t affect anything.
Take Neem in moderation and remember to start off small at first, you don’t want to have a reaction because everybody is different.
This being the 3rd of 3 wonder oil hubs I have done, I honestly can say not one specific one is better then the others. They are all wonderful in their own ways and all have wonderful uses for everybody and everything. The key thing is to just start going natural and green. Our poor planet has gone through enough of the crap we have put it through. But if we are going to continue lets at least try to keep ourselves in good shape by eating more natural and repairing ourselves more naturally. We were meant to. We were never meant to take an easy way out by just popping some pills. Our bodies are very resilient so lets let our bodies act the way they are supposed to by letting them heal themselves or at least be healed naturally with something that will benefit us completely rather then fix one thing but create another. Ok I am definitely rambling now, but if you want more info on the other wonder oils like Tea Tree Oil and Oregano Oil check out my hubs.
Neem: A Tree for Solving Global Problems with David Suzuki
© 2011 Tiffany