Neem,

The Medicine Tree of India

 

 Neem, (Azadirachta Indica in Latin, Nimba, in Sanskrit) is a large evergreen tropical tree, native to India and Burma. It is called the medicine tree because all parts of the tree are used medicinally. From the leaves are made medicinal powders, taken in capsule or paste form, from the twigs and bark are made tooth powders, paste, and medicinal soaps (the Indian villager breaks off a twig in the morning, crushes the end between his molars to make a brush, and leisurely cleans his teeth, one at a time, with its end, which exudes a bitter, anti-bacterial essence), and from the fruits and their seeds come Neem Oil, used topically for skin disorders, and as a contraceptive. Neem oil is also the source of a powerful insecticide! 

In Ayurveda, Neem is used to maintain healthy skin, to detoxify the liver and blood, and to reduce excess Pitta and Kapha.    

Neem's Ayurvedic Energetics are as follows: Its taste is bitter, its action is cooling, and its post-digestive effect is pungent.

Therefore Neem is balancing for Pitta and Kapha, but may aggravate Vata if used in excess and not balanced with other medicinals.

In Western terms its hebal actions are as follows:
Anthelmintic, antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, antipyretic, antiviral, depurative, diuretic, refrigerant, vulnerary.  It should be noted that among other chemical constituents unique to Neem, all parts of the plant yield b -Sitosterol, a natural plant steroid, probably responsible in part to ints anti-inflammatory properties.

Traditional Uses:

acne	herpes	overweight
athlete's foot	high cholesterol	parasites
candidiasis	hives	psoriasis
dermatitis	hyperglycemia	rashes
eczema	liver disorders	ringworm
edema	lymphatic congestion	scabies
fever	nausea	skin irritations

Commentary:
Neem is widely used in Ayurveda because of its effectiveness in dealing with nearly all types of pitta and kapha disorders. Its bitter property balances Kapha and cooling property balances Pitta.  Because it is  bitter and very cooling, it is usually combined with other herbs to offset its Vata-aggravating qualities.

Neem is one of the most powerful blood purifiers and is also known for its strong detoxification properties.  It has traditionally been used in diseases and disorders that need  blood purification, liver cleansing,  and toxins cleared from all the various tissues of the body. It also is used to support the immune system, which added to its other properties explains why it is commonly used for a variety of skin disorders involving irritation, inflammation, allergy, and immune weakness. It is said to have a special affinity for the tissues of the skin organ.

Possible Contraindications:
Pregnancy, hypoglycemia, extreme fatigue, emaciation, high vata

Modern Action and Uses: Neem possesses anti-diabetic, antibacterial, antiviral, astringent, tonic, antipyretic (fever reducing), anticancer, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic (destroys bacteria), antioxidative, anthelminitic, antidandruff and antiperiodic properties. It is beneficial in malarial fever and useful in cutaneous diseases. It boosts human immune system while helping the body to fight infections. It also stimulates the production of T-cells to fight  infections.

Beneficial in diabetes (reducing insulin requirement up to 50%). Neem has an almost magical effect on chronic skin conditions that often fail to respond to other treatments. It has scientifically tested for its ability to reduce blood pressure, blood clots, cholesterol levels.

Please Note:  Safety: Continuous use for more than a month is not advisable unless it is used with butter and honey (which balance the drying and cooling properties) or mixed and blended with other herbs. According to Ayurveda, herbs are taken in combination with other herbs to neutralize the toxicity of one herb with the opposing effect of the other or to enhance the particular effect of one herb with the help of other.

This is why at this point in time I use only  Ayush Brand Neem Capsules "Neem Plus". in which the Neem Leaf has been prepared according to traditional methods, with Trifala, Manjeeshta, and Tinospora cordiflia.

Moreover, Ayush then takes the traditional preparation and makes an extract, making it much easier to digest and assimilate. If you open an Ayush NeemPlus capsule, you will see that it is a dark, uniform, mix of granules, with an extremely bitter taste.

 

Compare this with another well known brand,

This is their info from their web site:

 

" Each 500 mg tablet contains: Neem leaf (Azadirachta indica)*.
Other ingredients, from natural sources: stearic acid (from vegetable oil), rice maltodextrin, modified food starch, silicon dioxide, magnesium stearate (from vegetable oil)."

As you can see, besides containing all kinds of undesireable tableting agents, their product consists of simply powdered Neem leaf. This is wrong. Powdered leaf is never used this way in Ayurveda, it is ALWAYS

prepared by heating and mixing with other herbs like Triphal, to protect your digestive tract and make it possible to absorb the micronutrients. We are not cows. We do not have the digestive tract to eat dried Neem leaves. So, this is not practicing Ayurveda, but practicing opportunistic money making, to be blunt. We owe you, the patient, the right to hear the truth.

 

Dietary Recommendations when using Neem for Pitta Disorders

 

Foods to Favour:
Light diet, rice, green gram (mung dal) soup, kitcharee, bitter gourd, green leafy vegetables, papaya, pomegranate, Amla, cucumber.

Foods to Avoid:
Avoid fried, spicy food, egg, seafood, pre-packaged food, excess use of meat products, noodles and nuts. They are harmful for the skin as they increase the surface acidity of the blood.

 

Avoid vegetables with edible seeds, like tomatoe. Worse is tomato sauce, paste, and puree, because they are concentrated. Likewise, concentrated orange juice.

Avoid alcohol, smoking and drugs, including coffee, which are very Pitta aggravating, and produce lots of heat. Avoid long periods of exposure to sun during treatment. Use of cosmetics should be limited.

Ayurveda assesses skin lesions according to the Dosha imbalance that is at the root of the problem. This is useful for determing which dosha is imbalanced, and therefore what additional dietary and lifestyle remedies will be useful.

Vata Imbalance: The skin lesions due to vata (Air) vitiation are dry, dusky-reddish in color and hard, unevenly spread, have rough edges, are thin, slightly elevated externally, numbed as if paralyzed, covered with bristling hair, afflicted with extreme piercing pain, have scanty purulent or serious discharge. The other features due to Vata predominance include roughness, dryness, pricking sensation, tremors, blisters, contraction, fatigue, rigidity, numbness, ulceration and fissures.

Pitta Imbalance: The skin lesions due to Pitta vitiation are copper colored with cooper colored rough edges of hairs, dense, have plenty of thick discharge of pus, blood and lymph accompanied with itching, moisture, sloughing, burning and suppuration, softening, putrefaction, discharge, and redness.

Kapha Imbalance: The skin lesions due to Kapha vitiation are glossy, large, raised, smooth, stable and have swollen edges of Whitish red shade covered with white rows of hair, with excessive thick white discharge, very moist, itchy and affected with parasites, slugging in spreading appearance and ulceration, commonly round in shape. The other features due to Kapha predominance include coldness, itching, stability, thickness, elevation, increase of secretion, and excretion.

Brief Intro. to Manjeeshtha, and Gudduchi,  NeemPlus's additional ingredients besides Trifal.

 

Manjeeshtha or Rubia cordifolia is a perennial prickly creeper or climber with a wide range of morphological characters. The roots contain a mixture of purpurin (trihydroxy anthraquinone) and munjistin (xanthopurpurin-2-carboxylic acid), and small amounts of xanthopurpurin or purpuroxanthin and pseudopurpurin (purpurin-3-carboxylic acid). Several substituted naphthoquinones and hydroxy anhraquinones and their glycosides have been isolated from the roots. Aldehyde aceate, dihydromollugin and rubimallin showed antibacterial activities.

Indications The roots are credited with tonic, astringent, antidysenteric, antiseptic, mild diuretic and detoxification properties. They are used in rheumatism and form an ingredient of several Ayurvedic preparations. The roots are said to be active against Staphylococcus aureus and are made into a paste for application into ulcers, inflammations and skin disorders. Roots are used also for coloring medicinal oils. A decoction of leaves and stems is used as a vermifuge.

 

Its use dates at least from 600 B.C.E., where it is mentioned by Cakradatta for use in Pityriais Versicolor, a form of Psoriasis.

 

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Tinospora cordifolia.   Guduchi in Sanskrit.

Tinospora cordifolia is a large, climbing shrub. Its principle constituents are tinosporine, tinosporide, tinosporaside, cordifolide, cordifol, heptacosanol, clerodane furano diterpene, diterpenoid furanolactone tinosporidine, columbin and §-sitosterol. The stem is used in dyspepsia, fevers and urinary diseases. The plant is used to improve the immune system and the body's resistance to infections. It is also an effective immunostimulant.

 

 

Eyton J. Shalom, M.S., L.Ac.

Ayurvedic and BodyMind Practitioner

eyton@bodymindwellnessenter.com

www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com

619/296-7591

 

 

 

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