Starwest Botanicals Papain Powder 2,000 USP/mg 1 Lbs

Papain has been used for centuries as a natural meat tenderizer.It can also be used to kill worms and parasites. (According to the University of Maryland medical center, "Digestive enzymes will help restore your intestinal tract to its normal state, which makes it inhospitable to parasites. Papain is an enzyme from the papaya plant that may help kill worms when taken 30 minutes before or after meals.*") Many double blind studies have verified its efficacy for this purpose.I bought it for this reason, not to use as a tenderizer. (Most of us have at least a few of those intruders in our bodies, which we've picked up from eating pork, eating sushi, or just from touching other people who have worms or parasites.... it's good to clean them out once in a while.)COMMON WAYS TO TAKE PAPAIN:1) You could eat pineapple or papaya every day (both contain papain) (I like both foods, but eating them both every day could be pricey and get a little monotonous.)2) You could eat papaya and papaya seeds (also rich in papain) (again, great when it's in season, but it's not always available).3) You could take papaya enzyme tablets. (Not always a good idea, for reasons described below.)4) You could take pure papain, by taking this product.MY EXPERIENCE:After reading about the benefits of papain, I decided to try some.I first bought a bottle of "chewable Papaya Enzyme" tablets from American Health. I was disappointed to realize that the tablets were mostly sugar and calcium carbonate, with a small amount of papain added. They were essentially sugar pills - not a good thing to take if you're wanting to kill parasites, which love sugar.Then it occurred to me to try taking papain by the spoonful. (A pineapple might last a week if you stretch it; the amount of powder in this bag could well last a year.)So I did a search on Amazon and found this product. Since ordering it, I've taken it several times, and can report that:* It tastes okay... kind of nondescript... perhaps very slightly bitter. It's not sweet like pineapple or papaya. Most people would probably want to mix it in with some juice or yogurt. But you could also just take it by the spoonful and chase it with some water.* It smells okay. (No smell at all that I can detect)* It mixes smoothly.* I feel like something good is happening when I take it. I've been using it as part of an anti-parasite regimen. Some antiparasiticals, like wormwood, can be dangerous, so it's nice to find one that has been vetted in scientific studies as being safe.WARNINGS and CAUTIONS:* Papain has been used for centuries as a form of male birth control. It does NOT reduce testosterone but appears to reduce sperm motility. So if you're trying to conceive, I would not recommend taking it. (Though if you're trying NOT to have a kid, it could come in handy.)* My stomach growls sometimes when I take it. I assume that's a good sign actually, an enzyme's at work down there. But you might not want to take it before a date or important business meeting, if that happens to you.--------------------* To read a scientific study about using papaya to kill worms in Nigerian children, do a web search for these words:"Effectiveness of dried Carica papaya seeds against human intestinal parasitosis: a pilot study."According to the study, "(Papaya seeds) offers a cheap, natural, harmless, readily available monotherapy and preventive strategy against intestinal parasitosis."

Update: went to order again. First bag was $21.00. Second bag was $26.00. Now price is $37.00!! Looking for a better price on same or similar product. This is my third time going to order this product. I eat a lot of steak, some not prime, haha, but this solved any toughness issues. The first bag lasted 2 years. I put powder in a shaker and sprinkle it on a few minutes prior to cooking. Do not marinate meat in this powder, will turn any meat to mush. Sprinkle on like salt and cook within 5 minutes or so. I did not detect any bad smell, seems tasteless to me but works great. I used to order a liquid from Amazon that worked great but is no longer available. After trying many others I will stick to this product for cost and convenience.

WOW! This stuff is powerful. If using for a meat tenderizer, you only need just a smiggin in the normal tenderizer bottle. We tried a teaspoon full in the regular bottle with some seasoning and cornstarch. It tenderized the steaks in about 10 minutes. We had a couple of steaks we cooked up about 12 minutes later (not enough room on grill at one time), and those steaks were like mush!This product will go a long, long way and tenderize a huge amount of steaks! We are now using about 1/4 teaspoon per small tenderizer container and seems to work well. Just shows how much profit is being made by mfr of commericial meat tenderizers.We like this product and are saving money!

Seems to work well as a tenderizer. First time I tried it was with some Fajitas (skirt steak) and I over did it or left it on too long. It turned to mush. Next few times I used much less on steak and it was much better. Still trying to get the hang of it as far as amount and time left on the meat. So what I do is apply a light coat on the meat and then add my regular spices. I leave it on 15 to 30 minutes or more depending on the thickness of the steak. Have only tried it on beef. I also tried it on mosquito bites and it also seems to work well. Can't speak for bee stings. This amount should last me for a lifetime, lol. I will be giving some away to friends and relatives. Mine had no smell whatsoever and no taste either.

I'm a beekeeper and believe it or not, this stuff works great on bee stings! Make a paste and apply to the sting. Leave it on there for a while and it keeps the swelling / reaction down. Fantastic results for me. Only downside is that it stinks!

I use this to augment my general digestive enzyme pills that I take with each meal. My chiropractor tested it and told me to take 1/8 tsp with each protein meal. I mix it in water and it works just fine. He said it is a good product and I know Starwest Botanicals is a good company. It will take me 6 months or more to eat the whole pound. That really saves me $$$.I really wish they made both a carb and fat digestion powder. That would save me a lot of money.

As some other reviewers have noted, it has a very foul smell. I don't know why others say there is no odor at all, but it's bad enough to be stomach turning. I tried the powder by itself, and surprisingly it had no flavor in the small amount I sampled. On my first attempt at tenderizing a tough chuck steak, it did work well. I used a couple of teaspoons for about 1.5 - 2.0 lbs of meat, which I also ran through a mechanical tenderizer. I used too much powder/let it go too long though and the meat was too soft. I may try again, however, the beneficial effects are probably outweighed by the odor, which is hard to get past while trying to use it as a food prep item.

I use it as additive for my backyard. Last time I mixed it with my water, beer, shampoo mix this enzyme smelled really, really bad. I can't see how anyone would use it for dental hygiene. The smell in the solution was disgusting. I only sprayed it on the lawn, but I think others use it in marinades or other food / body applications.