I first got hip to neem as natural birth control years ago in conversation with an Ayurvedic doctor. Interestingly enough, neem has already been used as a contraceptive in India for thousands of years. Neem is a spermicide, and is my top choice for a natural birth control for any card carrying progressive woman as it can be taken by both men and women. YEP, ladies you heard me right – how bout we get bae involved!
Why I prefer it is because it does have some research behind it– although most of the testing has been done on animals. To use it and make it completely fool-proof ideally: the female partner would take neem during her fertile window, the male partner would also take it, AND for additional protection neem oil can also be inserted in the vagina during or after sex. It is possible for men alone to take it, or women alone to take it and still prevent pregnancy. For the fertility window to be safe you can track your cycle and take neem for 7 days total. Most women have a 28-day menstrual cycle, which means you have about 6 days each month when you can get pregnant. How long should Bae take it? Animal studies showed 66.7 percent reduction in fertility after 6 weeks, 80 percent after 9 weeks, and 100 percent after 11 weeks. Using a dose of 900-1000 mg daily of a Neem leaf during that period would be ideal.
Research conducted on 20 married soldiers from the Indian Army over the course of one year showed that a daily oral dose of several drops of neem seed oil placed in gelatin capsules prevented pregnancy in each of the wives during the period of the study. The effect took 6 weeks to become 100% effective. The effects were reversed within 6 weeks after subjects discontinued taking the capsules. During the study, none of the men experienced any negative side effects and retained their normal capabilities and desires. (Vietmeyer, 1992). In the studies I found, 3 mg of neem leaf extract immobilized and killed 100% of spermatozoa within 20 seconds. Newer studies showed that neem oil contraceptive kills sperm in the vagina within 30 seconds and remains active for five hours without causing irritation.
To watch a testimonial I found of a woman who has used this method for five years, click HERE. XO
References:
Link to overview: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d40d/f43dc1193917a79a6a58e9dd715cf39e439f.pdf
Gp. Capt. K.C. Sinha and Lt. Col. S.S. Riar. 1985. Neem oil—an ideal contraceptive. Biological Memoirs 10(1 and 2):107-114.
N.L. Sadre, Vibhavari Y. Deshpande, K.N. Mendulkar, and D.H. Nandal. 1983. Male antifertility activity of Azadirachta indica in different species. Pages 473-482 in H. Schmutterer and K.R.S. Ascher, eds. 1984. Natural Pesticides from the Neem Tree (Azadirachta indica A. Juss.) and other tropical plants. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Eschborn, Germany.
Shakti N. Upadhyay, Charu Kaushic, and G.P. Talwar. 1990. Antifertility effects of neem (Azadirachta indica) oil by single intrauterine administration: a novel method for contraception. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences 242:175-179.
Suryawanshi, Jyotsna, A. Natural contraceptive for male and female.International Journal of Biomolecules and Biomedicine (IJBB), 2011, Jul 30. Vol. 1, No.2, p. 1-6