Jenkin's Story

We rescued Jenkins from a shelter on August 18, 2000. Jenkins is a ten year old Shih-tzu and was scheduled to be put down because of his horrible skin and chronic eye and ear infections. His people loved him and spent thousands on vet bills trying to heal him, but they had no idea that they were killing him with all the toxins, steroids, antibiotics and prescription dog foods their vet was prescribing.

We also began immediately detoxifying him with Nature's Way Aloe Vera Detox and Organix's Neem Leaf Capsules, one capsule in his food twice daily. We also started him on a basic raw diet to figure out what foods he was allergic to. We started with brown rice, raw chicken, peas and carrots. This mix worked very well for him.

We have had our set backs with the allergies. Jenkins broke out in hives with flaxseed, pumpkin and garlic. Each time he breaks out, it takes about a week with the detoxifier and 2 of Organix's Neem Leaf Capsules daily to get his skin back to normal.

You should see Jenkins today! Now three months later, he jumps and plays with his sisters (2, two year old Shih-tzus), his skin is a healthy pink color, and his hair is starting to fill back in. His diet is VERY limited. He can have beef and chicken and most vegetables. He occasionally shares an apple or banana with me, and eats grapes and baby carrots for treats. I have taken him off the rice and am slowing trying to find another filler for his diet. Jenkins still gets one neem leaf capsule split between two meals every day. I believe this helps with the fleas (he has none) and keeps his digestive system on track. Jenkins gets a bath usually twice a week with Organix's Neem Shampoo as well.

Source: Organix South, Inc.

Tree of Life
For thousands of years, the people of India have known about the powers of the neem tree. They clean their teeth with neem twigs, heal skin disorders such as ulcers and eczema with neem-leaf juice, drink neem tea as a tonic, place neem leaves in their grain bins and cupboards to ward off insects, and pour neem tea on their plants to repel insects.

Now scientists around the world are researching the possibilities that the neem, a member of the mahogany family, could provide answers to many global problems such as including reforestation, cancer prevention methods, pesticide alternatives, and population control, including a role in the development of a male birth control pill.

"Even some of the most cautious researchers are saying that neem deserves to be called a wonder plant,'" according to Noel Vietmeyer, the study director of a 1992 National Research Council report entitled "Neem: A Tree for Solving Global Problems."

Indian scientists began research on the neem in the 1920s, but their work was little recognized until a German entomologist, Heinrich Schmutterer, witnessed a locust plague in the Sudan in 1959. Schmutterer began researching the neem when he saw that the only plant survivors of the plague were neem trees. Interest in the tree spread, and by 1991, several hundred researchers in over a dozen countries were conducting research on the neem. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been studying the neem tree since 1972.

One of the most promising benefits of the neem tree may be the use of neem extractions in new organic insecticides. According to the World Health Organization, over 20,000 deaths and a million illnesses each year result from misuse or overuse of pesticides in the Third World alone. Neem insecticides have many advantages over traditional chemical methods: research indicates they are not harmful to humans or animals, insects don't become resistant to them, neem extracts do not accumulate in the environment, and they also spare beneficial insects like butterflies and ladybugs.

Entomologists have found that neem compounds can affect more than 200 insect species, including mosquitoes, fruit flies, head lice, Japanese beetles, Colorado potato beetles, Gypsy moths, fire ants, fleas, cockroaches, and boll weevils. The neem serves as a unique insecticide in that its compounds do not immediately kill insects, but rather alter insects' behavior or life processes in subtle ways as to impair the insect so that it can no longer feed, breed, or metamorphose.

The chemical structure of the neem contains only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, in contrast to inorganic, synthetic insecticides. The neem relies on four major compounds which act as antihormones in combating insects, and these are backed up by some 20 or so other minor, less active compounds.

The four major compounds, azadirachtin, salannin, meliantriol, and nimbin, are of the general class of natural products called triterpenes, or more specifically, limonoids. Azadirachtin is the major agent for warding off insects, causing about 90% of the effect on insects. It repels and disrupts the growth and reproduction of insects by interrupting the process of metamorphosis by blocking molting, thus ending the insect's life cycle. Meliantriol and salannin both repel insects by causing them to cease eating. The fourth compound, nimbin or nimbidin, is involved in antiviral activity, affecting potato virus X, vaccinia virus, and fowl pox virus. Other neem ingredients also work as antihormones, including some that are able to paralyze certain insects' swallowing abilities.

It is a fairly simple process to obtain these compounds by extracting them from the seed kernels of the tree. Crushing the kernels and extracting them with water is the most effective way for village peoples to obtain neem insecticides. Scientists have developed more advanced processes and means to convert neem extracts to forms of granules, dust, wettable powders, or emulsifiable concentrates. Scientists have also developed formulations, including the addition of chemicals or chemical modification of the neem ingredients, to increase shelf life of products or to reduce phototoxicity, the damage to sensitive plants.