Neem is great stuff. Ever been in the market for high quality neem but did not know what to look for? Neem products are slowly becoming more widely available, but right now are for the most part only found on the internet or in health food shoppes and other out of the way places. These products are not easy to find, so it is easy to grab the first thing you find on the shelf just because it says neem on it. Here are some quick tips that will help you choose wisely before you stock up on an inferior product-
Know How The Neem Oil Was Extracted There are a lot of methods that are used to extract the neem oil from the seeds of the neem tree. As you might have already concluded, not all extraction process were created equally. The best extraction method that produces the best neem oil is called cold pressing. Cold pressed neem oil is the best, as the majority of the active compounds remain intact. This is also the first and most accepted extracting process. It uses a mechanical device that squeezes the oil out of the seeds. Always try to get cold pressed neem oil where possible.
The next extraction technique uses superheated water and heat. Though this method yields more oil than cold pressing, a lot of the active compounds in the neem oil can possibly be ruined by the exposure to high heat.
This next technique is one that most neem oil dealers use because it yields the most oil. The method is called solvent extraction, and usually hexane (which is also called “white gasoline”) is the chemical used. Though this technique extracts just about all of the oil from the seeds, the solvents render useless nearly all of the active compounds in the neem seed oil. Besides this and the fact that the chemical being used is poisonous, it is preferable to look for items that do not contain neem oil that was extracted using them.
Be Sure The Products Do Not Contain Additives Nearly all cosmetics and bath/shower products these days contain chemical compounds to “enhance” the products performance. At the same time, some of these additives can actually cause adverse side effects. Two of the most common compounds that are in many of the products are Lauryl Sulfates (SLS) and Parabens. SLS’s are mostly used as foam enhancers, because they are inexpensive and work pretty well. The majority of inexpensive neem shampoo products have many of these additives too. However, these chemicals have proven to cause allergic reactions in some people. The US Food and Drug Administration encourages developers of these products not to use them.
Parabens are common preservatives, and though there has been no real studies showing that that they are potentially harmful, they are starting to be avoided by many. Some organizations feel they should be avoided for the sake of precaution.
Buy Only Products That Contain Certified Organic Ingredients For obvious reasons, organic ingredients are better than ones that are not. These are natural substances, and have not been exposed to potentially dangerous chemical compounds, synthetic fertilizers, plant growth regulators, pesticides or similar chemicals. Look for labels that list the ingredients. If a producer uses organic ingredients, they will almost always state this (it’s a selling point) somewhere on the packaging.