One of the many wonderful things about selling neem is its distinctive taste and odor.
I’m not smart enough to tell whether the recent stories about supplements not containing herbs as labeled were correctly tested or not, but I do know that it’s very easy to identify neem – in or out of a capsule. Nobody who has ever tasted neem would confuse it with rice!
Recent events reminded me of a long conversation I had with an Ayurvedic doctor about using neem internally when we first started growing neem more than 20 years ago. “Mothers in India used neem much the way older Americans used castor oil for sick children,” he said, then paused. “But Indian children did everything they could to avoid taking neem so they seldom got sick.”
At that point, we were growing neem mainly for our personal use, and we hadn’t made the leap to manufacturing capsules. We recommended a simple neem tea made with five leaflets in the bottom of a cup, filled with hot water and allowed to cool before drinking.
And some people actually like the taste of neem. I recently read a research article on the genetic reasons that some people can’t tolerate the taste of cilantro. My partner in Mexico hates cilantro but loves the taste of neem – he’s the farmer who can actually taste a healthy neem tree. I love cilantro and I just tolerate the taste of neem because I know it’s good for me, particularly if I’ve been exposed to some of the nasty bugs running around this time of year. Everyone I’ve asked since follows that exact same pattern.
Let’s try an informal survey – let us know if you like cilantro and hate neem, or hate cilantro and love neem. It’s just two questions so it shouldn’t take but a minute. http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07eakc3vfxi64v1n9b/start
Either way, if you’re wondering about our neem capsules, all you have to do is open one to know it really is 100% neem leaf!