aloe vera
The aloe plant grows in the desert. Its thick,green, spiky leaves are filled with a colorless gel. For centuries, aloe vera has been used for beauty and as a medicine.
The benefits of aloe vera are many. To start with, the raw aloe vera gel and juice can be applied on the skin to moisturize the skin, or to treat a sunburn. Actually, some people keep an aloe vera plant in the kitchen for first aid. Since the aloe plant is a cactus, it is a hardy plant that requires minimal maintainance. Occasional watering and lots of sun, some fertilizer and you've got a miracle plant growing in your garden. When I forgot to water my plants, while the other plants died, the aloe plant survived.
That aloe plant comes in very handy. If you burn yourself accidentally, slice off 1 leaf from the aloe vera plant and press the gel against the affected area. It would cool down the skin, relieve the pain and the burn will heal more quickly than normal, probably without any scarring. You can also use it on wounds to heal the skin from other injuries as well. It even makes a great all natural hair gel that is actually good for your hair and helps keep your hair in place. My friend's mom uses the gel from her aloe vera plant for that, anyway.
On a very hot day, you can always make an aloe vera drink to cool off. My neighbor had too many aloe vera plants. They reproduced abundantly, so she chopped off the leaves of a full grown plant he had no space for and distributed the leaves among our neighbors. Those leaves make delicious and nutritious drinks for the entire family.
How To Make An Aloe Vera Drink
- Slice off 1 large leaf from the aloe vera plant.
- Wash the leaf over running water.
- Peel off the leaf rind and wash away the yellow liquid. That yellow or brown stuff you see just below the rind and above the gel is aloin. It can really irritate the skin. Medicinally, it was used as a laxative before the appearance of modern drugs.
- Slice the clear gel into cubes
- Boil a pot of water
- Add the aloe vera cubes to the water and let it boil for five minutes.
- Sweeten with sugar. I prefer using rock sugar. Or better yet, honeycomb.
- Set aside to cool. Refrigerate if you like for a refreshing drink.
Recipe for aloe gel
Home made aloe gel is simlar to the aloe vera drink. Logically, you can slice the clear gel out of the leaf and use it directly on your skin. There is a problem. Aloin. That yellow/brown liquid is very irritating. I read about a lady who makes aloe vera cream to sell. She gets a skin allergy while handling the leaves because of aloin. Then she uses the finished product to heal the skin.
One reason why you should boil the aloe vera gel is because the heat would render the aloin harmless. Then again, the heat would also deactivate some of the useful enzymes in the aloe vera gel. But plenty of the benefits you would get from the aloe gel would still remain.
Anyway, this is how to make gel from the aloe vera plant.
- Wash the aloe vera leaves
- Peel off the green rind.
- Wash away the aloin or yellow or brown liquid.
- Put the gel in the blender.
- Put the pureed gel in a saucepan and heat until it boils
Yes, you will lose some of the aloe vera's goodness because of the heat, but at least the end result is safe.
How does aloe vera plant work on the skin
In ancient egypt, women with the means would use aloe vera to beautify themselves. Queen Cleopatra and Queen Nefertiti used aloe vera daily to help them stay beautiful.
I've tried aloe vera before on my skin when I was pregnant. Actually, I used aloe vera gelly over my belly. My doctor was shocked when she examined me after delivery. There were absolutely no stretch marks even though my baby was huge.
Lily of the Desert 99% Aloe Vera Gelly -- 4 fl oz
I was kind of broke, so instead of splurging on expensive moisturizers, I slathered the gel all over my face and belly. My skin was at its best during that period. Okay, I know the pregnancy hormones have something to do with it, but even when I wasn't pregnant, using aloe vera gelly on my face left my skin better looking than normal. Skin becomes clearer and a tad fairer with the regular use of aloe vera gel.
I do have a problem with acne, and at one point of time, aloe vera gelly was the only moisturizer I dared use. Anything else would lead to an acne breakout. Aloe vera seemed to reduce acne.
I have also had a bout of eczema that covered my entire face and body, including my eye lids. That was a horrible episode. I went to see a doctor about it and was given a few days off from work to recover. The first thing I did was to head for the pharmacy for several tubes of 99% Aloe Vera Gelly. I was so desperate I bought up their entire stock. I applied the gelly all over my skin every few minutes to heal the skin. It stung at first, but worked. The doctor's medicine probably had something to do with it, but recovery was better than I expected and when the eczema cleared, there wasn't any sign left that it ever was there. I've tried many other brands, but I find this gelly the best by far. Maybe it is the coloring or other stuff they include in the other brands, or it could be the way the aloe vera was processed.
What is the science behind aloe vera and your skin?
In the 1930s, aloe vera caught the attention of the medical community when doctors found that it could heal radiation burns.
Actually, it can be used to treat more than just burns. Stings, insect bites, ulcers and even the arthritis respond well to treatment with the aloe vera gel.
Aloe Vera's effect of eczema is the easiest to explain. Aloe vera contains many components, including plant steroid.
No, you are not going to turn into the Incredible Hulk by drinking aloe vera juice, but aloe vera's steroid components make it effective against allergies, including eczema.
As for how aloe vera heals burns and wounds, Dr. Ian Tizard from >Texas A&M University has the answer. Acemannan, found in the sap of the aloe vera leaf has potent anti-inflammatory properties. It works on the blood vessel walls, acts on the cells, prevents further damage and stops the inflammation. They are still trying to find out the details as to exactly how this happens.
Aloe vera juice
Besides applying aloe vera topically, the juice is valuable as well. Firstly, it is highly nutritious. It contains vitamins A,B complex, C, E and all 8 essential amino acids. Of the 14 secondary amino acids, aloe vera contains 11. It also contains the minerals calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, copper, chromium, sodium, potassium and zinc. From the vitamins alone, aloe vera is a potent ant-oxidant that protects your body from the free radicals. At the same time, it provides many of the essential nutrients your body needs to stay healthy.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Aloe vera also contains polysaccharides which make it stand out from any multi-vitamin drink or food you might find.
No doubt, you can get the juice fresh from the leaf, but for convenience and to avoid the irritating and laxative effects of aloin, it might be wiser to get it in a stabilized form, from a health shop. Fresh aloe vera juice straight from the leaf oxidizes so quickly that after 4 hours, most of its unique benefits are gone. Okay, so I'm lazy and rather reach for the bottle in the fridge whenever I want some aloe juice. It is a lot more convenient than preparing a fresh batch everyday in which the enzymes would be killed through cooking anyway..
A good juice to drink is the
Essential Greens Drink Mix - Natural
The health benefits of aloe vera juice are related to its antioxidant properties, anti-inflammatory properties, anti-bacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties.
Did you know it contains Lupeol, salicylic acid, urea nitrogen, cinnamonic acid, phenols, and sulphur. By the way, salicylic acid is often used in treating acne. No wonder Aloe vera juice, when applied on pimples helps clear the skin.
The traditional chinese find aloe vera cooling. They would recommend drinking aloe vera juice for detox -- to purge away the toxins. According to TCB, it is great for irritable angry people too. At very least, it is good for soothing sore throats.
Aloe vera juice for arthritis
Many people claim that drinking aloe vera juice helps ease their arthritis symptoms. One of the benefits of drinking aloe vera juice is the relief from pain and stiffness in the joints. Arthritis is after all, an inflammatory disease. With arthritis, joints are inflamed. Aloe vera's anti-inflammatory properties makes it a valuable supplement for anyone who suffers from that disease.
Honestly, the benefits of aloe vera are just too many to list. As for what it contains, science has yet to identify every single component in that complex juice. So far, many valuable substances have been isolated from the aloe vera plant. Traditionally, it was used on the battlefield to heal the soldiers after each battle. Alexander the Great is said to have used this to heal his soldiers while at war.
The polysaccharides in the aloe vera makes it a class above any vitamin supplements. It was just a matter of time before someone isolated those polysaccharides and put them in a supplement for convenience. The question is, how to stabilize the formula so that the effectiveness of these polysaccharides remains.
The major polysaccharides found in aloe vera are Mannose and cellulosic glucose. It also contains various pectic polysaccharides.
Polysaccharides are basically complex carbohydrates. Plants store food as polysaccharides. Animals too use polysaccharides as future food stores. The interesting thing about aloe vera polysaccharides is that these are not broken down during digestion but are taken up as they are into the cells in your body.
There is now a supplement on the market that contains a large concentration Aloe Mucilaginous Polysaccharides optimally extracted to retain their effectiveness. That supplement is Digestinol.Click here now to receive $15 off on your next order of Digestinol. It is worthwhile to take those supplements for their health benefits and as a preventive measure against a myriad of diseases, including
- Crohn's Disease
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
- Ulcerative Colitis
- Diverticulitis
- Diverticulosis
- Acid Reflux (click a condition below for more information)
- Gastritis
- Gastroenteritis
- Spastic Colon
- Hiatal Hernia
- Skin Rashes
- Digestive Problems
- Ulcers
- Peptic Ulcer
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