Aloe Vera

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Mahatma Gandhi on Aloe Vera

What aloe Vera can do for you

Common Concerns

Aloe Vera Species

Internal Uses of Aloe Vera

Composition of Aloe Vera

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Mahatma Gandhi on Aloe Vera

What were the secret forces which sustained me during my fasts?    Well, it was my unshakable faith in God, my simple & frugal lifestyle & the aloe .....

What Aloe Vera can do for you

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Common concerns
Query If I drink Aloe vera or use it on skin and gums over a long period will it make me dependent ?
Answer Absolutely not. It is not a drug, it is not addictive (you will not become dependent on it), and long-term drinking of Aloe Vera juice only helps your body. There is no evidence that it does any damage at all. In fact, all evidence points to only long-term benefits of long-term use!
It is no different, in this light, than a person who drinks orange juice all their life. Aloe can only benefit the Immune System, and your organs (esp. the digestive and waste removal organs).
If you have digestive problems Aloe is certainly something you should consider discussing with your health care professional as an alternative to synthetic drugs, which may, over time, create additional problems. Aloe is NOT toxic or habit forming, Andover and above that it will help rid your body of toxins and free radicals, which damage the body.
Query: Is drinking Aloe safe for pregnant women?
Answer: There should be no problem with drinking Aloe if you're pregnant. Indeed, it will supply you, and your baby, extra nutrients that you both need, including vitamin b-12, which is critical for early fetal development.
Pregnant women should first consult with their pediatric doctor before starting Aloe or any other supplement.
Query Will Aloe cure me of all diseases?
Answer: Aloe Vera does NOT CURE any disease. Only a healthy, functioning Immune System can rid the body of disease.
But Aloe Vera can help provide the Immune System with most of the daily vitamins, minerals (including calcium), and other nutrients it requires to function properly.
Where more chronic illness are concerned we would be unwise to rely on Aloe or other herbs, vitamins, or even doctor-prescribed drugs alone in our response.
Our health care professional should be our consultant as we look to the needs of our bodies.
It is critical that you work along with the health care professional of your choice as you take responsibility for, and control of, your own body.
It is also critical that you study things out on your own . . . ultimately it is your body, and you know it better than anybody else. We must also use reason and common sense in our approach to health. While aloe has wonderful properties, bordering on the miraculous, if we abuse our bodies in other ways (smoking, excessive alcohol, no exercise, etc.) then Aloe can only do so much. It is truly a gift from nature, for us to use with other gifts from nature and modern science.

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Aloe Vera Species
There are over 240 different species of Aloe, growing mainly in the dry regions of Africa, Asia, Europe and America.
Although Aloe Vera is a member of the Lily family, it is very cactus-like in its characteristics. This unique plant also belongs to a larger plant family called "Xeroids".
Of the 240+ species of Aloe, only four are recognized as being of nutritional value to humans and animals. Aloe barbadensis miller (Aloe Vera species) is significantly the top of these four.
Thus, any aloe-based product you use should be made from barbadensis miller species for the desired best results.
Aloe Vera linne or Aloe Barbadensis Miller is a succulent from the Aloe family (400 different species) with its origin in the African continent. Its thick leaves contain the water supply for the plant to survive long periods of drought. These leaves have a high capacity of retaining the water also in very warm and dry climates and therefore this plant can survive very harsh circumstances where most other vegetation disappears. When a leaf is cut, an orange-yellow sap drips from the open end. As a drink this bitter sap has a very strong laxative effect.
At the beginning of this century it was the most used raw material for laxatives in the world and although many synthetic laxatives have largely replaced it on the world market there is still a demand for this product as a raw material for laxatives. This raw material is nowadays used as basis for many other pharmaceutical products also. One of the most popular anti-rheumatic medicines has this product as its basis. When the green skin of a leaf is removed a clear mucilaginous substance appears that contains fibers, water and the ingredients to retain the water in the leaf. These ingredients give this "gel" its special qualities as they are known now for many centuries. Among the uses for this gel is acceleration of wound healing, use on skin burns, moisturizing dry skin and it is taken internally for peptic ulcers or gastritis.
During the ages many other claims have been made concerning the properties of this gel. The first written reports on Aloe Vera are more then 2000 years old. Alexander the Great had special interest in parts of Africa where many Aloes grew as he used them for the wounds of his soldiers, Cleopatra used it as a skin care product and also the bible mentions the use of Aloe. Ever since Aloe was a first aid plant in many houses in the world. In the modern times scientific proof of the properties of the Aloe Vera plant was given. In 1935 an article in an American medical journal explained the very successful use of Aloe Vera as a treatment of skin lesions caused by X-rays. Since then, many scientific articles were written on the use of Aloe Vera as a treatment for all kinds of skin lesions and skin burns. It is used as a health-drink for stomach problems and it proved to be a very effective skin moisturizer as an ingredient in skin care products.
During the end of the seventies Aloe Vera gel became very popular in the USA as a moisturizing ingredient in cosmetics and its popularity has grown to such an unprecedented extent that it is now the most widely used ingredient in skin care products and can be found on the ingredient list of virtually all cosmetic products. Even dog or cat creams contain Aloe and you can now buy tissues impregnated with Aloe. Also in the Far East Aloe is a popular ingredient in skin care products as well as in health drinks. Now its popularity is also coming to Europe where more and more well known companies have started to add Aloe to their established products and also introduced special Aloe Vera product lines.
During the nineteenth century the Aloe Vera plant was brought from Africa to other tropical climates for cultivation. So it came to some of the Caribbean islands, India, Venezuela and Mexico. It was only during the seventies of our century that it started to be cultivated in the USA for the gel. Especially in Texas large Aloe Vera farms were set up and supplied the majority of the Aloe Vera users in the USA. Frost periods in 1984, 1985 and 1989 have killed most of the Aloes repeatedly and have discouraged many Aloe growers to continue the cultivation of this plant that comes from a warmer and dryer tropical climate then Texas has. For the supply of Aloe Vera most buyers are now more looking to reliable supply from the Caribbean, especially Aruba.
Aloe Vera juice, extract, drinks or patients with gastritis use concentrate and irritable bowel with very satisfying results. Aloe Vera juice stimulates your immune system with resulting decrease in allergy symptoms and significant decrease in your respiratory infections. Patients, who suffer from allergy and upper respiratory infections, are more than encouraged to take 1 ounce daily mixed in a favorite drink or straight.

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Internal Uses Of Aloe Vera

Historical evidence encompassing more than 4,000 years testifies to the high regard of ancient peoples to the benefits of Aloe vera. In the 1930's, interest in the internal gel was enhanced when the material was found to be remarkably effective in treating radiation-induced dermatitis. Since that time, a number of external and internal uses for the internal gel of Aloe have been reported in the literature, some of which are truly remarkable. Owing to increasing anecdotal reports purporting to corroborate beneficial effects of drinking the ground, preserved, internal gel of Aloe, a number of scientific investigations have been undertaken to evaluate the validity of the anecdotal reports. A few of the scientifically documented beneficial uses of drinking Aloe beverages will be delineated in contradistinction to untold numbers of anecdotal reports which represent subjective impressions or appraisals. Gastrointestinal DisorderFor over 300 years the curanderos and curanderas in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and the northern states of Mexico have recommended internal Aloe gel for "Las enferemedades del estomago y los intestinos, pero especialment para las ulceras." (The diseases of the stomach and intestines, but especially for ulcers.) As a result of these anecdotal reports, scientific investigations have been undertaken in animal models (laboratory rats) which have shown that if Aloe gel is administered prior to the ulcer-inducing stress (immobilization), there is an 80% decrease in the number of ulcers formed compared with the control animals given saline instead of the Aloe gel. Similarly, if the Aloe gel was given after the ulcers were formed, healing was three times as fast compared to the healing in the control animals. (Galal et al, 1975) Aloe gel mixed with heavy liquid petrolatum (2:1) was given to 12 patients, 7 males and 5 females, ages 24 to 84 years, with definitive x-ray evidence of duodenal ulcers. All 12 patients showed complete recovery with no recurrence for at least a year after ulcer healing. This study suffers, however, from the fact that (1) Duodenal ulcers are often self-healing without any treatment, and (2) There was no control group of patients treated in a similar manner without the administration of Aloe. Nonetheless, the physicians who conducted the study represent trained, clinically experienced observers, and thus even these uncontrolled observations have some scientific merit. (Blitz et al, 1963) Atherosclerosis And Coronary Heart DiseaseCoronary heart disease associated with the accumulation of blood fats (Lipids) in the lining of the arteries is still one of the major causes of death in the Western world. Several studies in animal models as well as in human subjects have suggested that the ingestion of Aloe gel may have a beneficial effect by lowering serum cholesterol, serum triglycerides, and serum phospholipids, which, when elevated, seem to accelerate the deposition of fatty materials in the large and medium-sized arteries, including the coronary arteries of the heart. The evidence suggests that the ingestion of Aloe gel may have a salubrious effect on fat (Lipid) metabolism, which, if active in human subjects, would tend to decrease the risk of coronary artery disease in people. (Joshi and Dixit, 1986) Monkeys given Triton, which causes marked increases in blood lipids, were divided into two groups. The first group was given Aloe, while the second group received the drug, clofibrate, which is used clinically to lower serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The following data show the reduction in the various parameters compared with the control animals.

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Composition of Aloe Vera

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