What is dandruff?

Dandruff is a skin condition that mainly affects the scalp, causing itchiness and flaking. Your skin starts to shed these dead cells when your scalp is too dry. The main cause for this condition is unclear, but it’s generally attributed to environmental and genetic factors such as seborrheic dermatitis. It can also be caused by certain water conditions or not shampooing enough. Even though dandruff generally only affects the scalp, it can worsen to a point that it starts affecting the face and other parts of the skin as well.

There are many chemical solutions on the market to solve this problem, be it antifungal creams or shampoos. However, these are very often chemical based and can harm your long strands.

Looking for a natural solution to dandruff?

Then neem oil is the answer. This wonderful oil makes your scalp smooth and can cure the itchiness and dryness caused by dandruff. With its many antifungal, antibacterial and hydrating properties, it literally helps eliminate the problem from the roots. Adding neem oil to your shampoo or buying neem-based shampoos will do wonders. What’s more, neem oil contains beneficial compounds such as Vitamin E and Omega 3, that enhance the appearance of your hair, nourish and protect it, while boosting growth and leaving your hair beautiful and shiny. Have you ever tried using neem for your hair care routine? Let us know in the comments below!

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Currently, the fashion industry is one of the largest industrial polluters in the world, second only to the oil industry. Valued at $3 trillion dollars, the fashion industry employs around 60 million people worldwide and represents 2% of the world’s GDP. However, it has never been an earth-friendly industry. With cotton representing nearly half the fibre used to make clothes and other textiles worldwide, unsustainable cotton farming is mainly to blame for this. Despite the fact that only 2.4% of the world’s crop land is planted with cotton, it accounts for 24% and 11% of the global sales of insecticide and pesticides respectively. What’s more, about 2,700 liters of water are used to produce just one cotton shirt! This unbelievable amount of water would be enough for one person to drink for two and a half years.  

With consumers demanding more sustainable options, designers and brands are increasingly seeking cleaner, safer and more regenerative ways of producing. This has led to the emergence of a new trend based on the belief that fashion should not come at the cost of our planet. This global movement known as the ‘sustainable fashion revolution’ is getting stronger and more and more companies are joining to assure that their clothes are produced in an environmentally-friendly and sustainable way. Providence County-based Kitchen Magic offers kitchen cabinets makeover services at affordable prices. The sustainable fashion movement is looking to maintain the growth of the industry while improving its environmental and social impact. 

A great example of this movement is visible in the newest collection launched by Reshma Merchant and Priyanka Kaul Lakdwala, two Indian businesswomen that incorporate herbs like neem and tulsi in their designs. This collection was launched with the aim to embrace wellness, sustainability, and female empowerment. As neem, a tree native to India, possesses antimicrobial, antifungal and antimalarial properties, it is the ideal organic biopesticide to tackle pests and plagues on plants used to produce natural fibers like cotton, coconut or bamboo.

Using a non-toxic and organic pesticide like neem, to cultivate and protect the plants used to produce natural fibers, guarantees a final product free of chemical and synthetic pesticides and allows for a greener supply chain. 

With this revolutionary development, designers, producers, and consumers are raising awareness in the fashion world and committing to creating a more sustainable and fashionable industry!  

A sustainable fashion revolution is upon us and Neem is part of it.  

Will you join it? 

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According to Dr. Gupta, who received the award for GNFC, they have set up over 2,200 neem seed collection centers that are accessible to over 4,000 villages in Gujarat. According to a survey completed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) from November 2016, the project has been successful, increasing women’s income by 56% as well as a reduction in domestic violence cases. As it was recently announced, the project is set to expand into six other states within India. There will eventually be 7,000 centers in Gujarat and 11,000 across the country.

The women supported by the Neem Project are helping to implement the goal of 100% neem-coated urea, set by the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narenda Modi, that is now required in India through their seed collection. This has allowed centers to produce neem oil, while creating a unique opportunity for rural, low-income women to support themselves, some using the money to pay for education opportunities that were not available to them before. This will also allow GNFC to use the extra neem oil created in future products!

The Neem Project shows the potential of big business, government, and socio-economic needs of citizens, working together in a sustainable, environmentally-friendly manner. From the success of this project, it is obvious that neem has the potential not only to save the environment through its sustainable and non-toxic properties, but also through creating unique and valuable economic opportunities for low-income communities.

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Let’s look at a bottle of toner. You’ve finished half of it, but the other half is old and now smells bad. You pour it down the drain.

Your discarded toner goes to the waste water system, or a local treatment plant – which filters the water. The chemicals in your toner aren’t filtered and end up in the surface and ground water, slowly but surely accumulating over years.

Many pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) have been labeled by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as “emerging contaminants of concern” for fish and aquatic life. With potentially irreversible effects on our environment as they accumulate and become more and more toxic, these chemicals have long-term effects on the endocrine system in fish, leading to reproductive and behavioral disorders as well as lowered immune system functionality. The poisoned fish, with high traces of these toxic chemicals, make it into your food supply. You eat these fish and the chemicals enter your body, potentially causing you harm.

Some of these potentially dangerous chemicals are:

Parabens: these preservatives are endocrine disruptors and found in almost all cosmetic and personal care products.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate: is used to create lather in shampoos, body washes, and face washes, but is an environmental toxin (according to the Environmental Working Group). As it is a pesticide, it also causes damage to your internal organs.

Phthalates: the most frequent chemical found in fish samples and fragrances, these are endocrine disrupters and there is no requirement for them to be mentioned on labels.

What can you do? Support and buy organic products with only truly natural ingredients that you can pronounce. Instead of introducing more potentially lethal chemicals into the drain every time you take a shower or wash your hands, introduce something like neem, which is harmless, and an amazing skin care ingredient, to you, wildlife, and the environment!

The post Where does your Shampoo Go? appeared first on Neem.World.

Try this mask and delight in the softness and natural beauty of your skin!

• 1 tablespoon of cosmetic clay
• 1/2 teaspoon of powdered neem leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1/2 tablespoon liquid (water, rose water, milk, yogurt – or add in some neem oil)
• 1 teaspoon of honey or lemon juice (we recommend neem honey!)

Mix dry clay, neem, and turmeric
Mix 1 teaspoon of this mixture with 1-2 tablespoons of the liquid mixture to make a paste

Apply mask to face, massaging it into skin. Let mask set and dry for 20 minutes, then rinse with warm water, pat dry, and feel completely refreshed!

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Last year, the USDA had announced that they were going to test food for glyphosate and the AMPA metabolite, an acid that is created as glyphosate breaks down, starting in April 2017. In March 2017, they abandoned this plan. The USDA had been coordinating with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test these samples, even though the EPA had received pressure from Monsanto to declare that glyphosate is not a carcinogen.

Last year, the FDA began testing glyphosate on food products. They found high levels in many samples of honey, and even in infant oat cereals. What if you, as a consumer, believed that you were buying a product with zero risk of it containing a potentially carcinogenic chemical, but then find out that it contained toxin levels much higher than the MRL? When there is no transparency, mankind is in danger.

Without comprehensive testing of all pesticides and toxins present on food, you, the consumer, will not be able to make an informed decision about the food that you buy for yourself and your family. Demand that your food be produced sustainably, with organic, natural products, like neem! When you choose organic, there is no concern over whether or not your food is safe to eat!

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In November, the EPA released a report that concluded that, as it is currently used, chlorpyrifos contaminates water and is a dietary risk due to its above normal safety standard residues on food crops. Additionally, the pesticide poses a risk to farm workers that come into direct contact with it every day. However, according to scientists, this synthetic chemical is correlated with lower IQ, attention deficit disorders, and developmental delays, like the loss of working memory, delayed motor development and decreased cognitive functioning. It has even been linked to autism, increasing in risk when mothers are exposed during pregnancy.

How can we avoid this scary chemical that is poisoning our children? Very difficult – it is currently being used on the majority of crops: corn, strawberries wheat, citrus, apples, and many others! Even though the chemical was banned for residential use in 2000, it has continued to prevail as a major insecticide used on golf courses, turf, and in greenhouses.

Since chlorpyrifos was on track to being banned – the EPA reversed the move just before the federal court deadline to make the final decision – the agency cannot revisit the health risks of this health-damaging synthetic chemical until 2022. Dow Chemical has claimed that there is not enough science corroborating the claims made by the EPA, however other scientists have compared chlorpyrifos with the health risks associated with lead.

Instead of continuing to use a proven health-damaging chemical to produce our fruits and vegetables, there are a multitude of other, safer and natural alternatives. One solutions is to use sustainable, neem-based biopesticides and fertilizers. Neem is cost-effective and is non-toxic to pollinators, animals, humans, and the environment, meaning you and your loved ones can stay safe, while enjoying healthy, sustainably produced food! Demand change, demand safety for you, your loved ones, and farmers!

The post Synthetic Pesticides and the Brain appeared first on Neem.World.

It means that even though we currently produce enough calories to feed the world, 795 million people live in extreme hunger, while another 1.4 billion suffer the effects of over-consumption. Diets can kill in a variety of different ways.

In the past 35 years, rates of obesity and diet-related diseases have doubled. Diabetes is among the most prevalent diseases in the world, and its incidence has increased by 382% in the United States since 1988. Every single day, more people are affected at both ends of the spectrum – under and over-nourishment. How can we break this cycle and bring balance to our global food security, especially when considering the 10 billion people expected to live on the globe in 2050?

The only true solution is for our food process to become more sustainable. By creating and nurturing a sustainable food system, we produce food that is healthier, more nutritious, and more wholesome. Instead of filling our body with toxins that may perpetuate these diseases that have become so prevalent in recent generations, we nourish our bodies with natural, safe and nutritious foods, like those produced with neem-based pesticides and fertilizers. Neem not only nourishes our bodies, but also benefits the soil, plants, the environment, animals, and our health! While it fixes the production, it also helps solve the problems caused by our current system through its ability to reduce insulin dependence for diabetic patients and detoxify the body of impurities. When mankind lives harmoniously with nature, everyone and everything benefits and stays healthy.

The post Health Consequences of the Conventional Food System appeared first on Neem.World.

Neem is an effective insect repellent, which is why neem oil is known as one of the best biopesticides available. However, it can also be used on humans to repel mosquitoes and other pests. It also works when burned or added to kerosene lamps, according to a study done at the Malaria Research Center of Delhi, India. It is most effective against anopheles, the mosquitoes that transmit malaria, as compared to culex (61-94%, West Nile), Aedes (85% dengue fever), and Armigeres (35%). Additionally, they found that the use of the lamps at home dropped the malaria rate dramatically, from 10 in 1,000 to 1 in 1,000!

How does it work?
Neem’s active compound azadirachtin, what makes this tree such a great biopesticide, is the key to its success as a mosquito repellent!

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The influenza virus is an extremely dangerous, rapidly transmitted virus with a high mortality rate. Each season, the influenza virus kills an estimated 50,000 people, causes 200,000 hospitalizations, and incurs costs of up to $10 billion in medical care in the United States.

The influenza virus genome, due to ease of mutation, is incredibly variable and therefore resistant to many drugs. This has made it extremely difficult to create an effective vaccine each season, as the drug constantly changes and there is no way for scientists to know which strain will be dominant in any given year. Originally, the virus was cured with protein inhibitors and neuraminidase inhibitors, but due to mutations in the virus, these drugs are now ineffective and obsolete.

A new, more effective treatment must be made, specifically targeting the areas that are consistent in the different strains, and that is based on natural materials instead of synthetic chemicals. A viral protein to target in the influenza virus is nucleoprotein, as it is evident in 81.78% of influenza strains. Nucleoprotein is an important player in the replication of the influenza virus, thus making it an ideal candidate for a universal target medicine.

Researchers have found that hyperoside, a natural compound found exclusively in neem leaves, is extremely adept at inhibiting nucleoprotein, This compound shows great promise and could hold the secret to treating the influence virus. Neem is a very viable option for natural medicines for many different diseases, bypassing the effectiveness of synthetic drugs in many situations!

The post Curing the Flu? With Neem, Anything is Possible appeared first on Neem.World.