Benefits of Aloe Vera as a Dietary Supplement
Almost all know the benefits of the herbal medicine plant Aloe Vera when
applied to the outside of our body. However, this plant does not just make
miracles on our outside but including the inside of our body! Such a
remarkable plant it is!
Aloe is a member of the lily family although it looks more of a cactus. It
has been used for its medicinal purposes since the ancient times, but only
recently has it enjoyed a rediscovery and subsequent popularity explosion.
Aloe Vera contains many components, including vitamins A, B, C, and E. Aloe
has a massive amount of minerals and enzymes, however not its entire
component has been identified yet.
Aloe Vera is also known as the “lily of the desert” or most specially the
“medicine plant”. This plant is native to Africa. The plant is approximately
96% water and 4% of it includes amino acids, minerals, vitamins, enzymes,
essential oil, and glycoproteins.
When taken orally, Aloe Vera juice contains three anti-inflammatory fatty
acids. This is a help to our stomach, intestine, and colon. It aids most
specially, bowel diseases, candida ulcers, intestinal infections,
constipation, and other digestive tract infection such as colitis,
When taking Aloe Vera as a supplement, always choose the supplement with the
highest quality. The label should say that it is 80 to 100 percent Aloe
Vera. This is true to lotions that claim it contains Aloe Vera when in fact
it contains very little amount of aloe and have no health benefits.
Aloe Vera dietary supplement is now rising in our market. Aloe Vera contains
a large amount of medicinal substances used as purgative. The medicinal
substance id produced from various species of aloe, such as Aloe Vera, Aloe
vulgaris, Aloe socotrina, Aloe chinensis, and Aloe perryi.
Several kinds of aloe are commercially available such as the Barbados,
Socotrine, Hepatic, Indian, and Cape aloes. Barbados and Socotrine are the
varieties most commonly used for curative purposes.
Aloes is the expressed juice of the leaves of the plant. When the leaves are
cut, the juice that flows out are collected and evaporated. After removing
the juice, you need to boil the leaves for sometime to avoid yielding an
inferior kind of aloe. However, some leaves of other Aloe Vera species are
poisonous such as Aloe venenosa.
Aloe has been marketed for having a large number of benefits when taken
internally. Aloe have formula that are known remedy for coughs, wounds,
ulcers, gastritis, diabetes, cancer, headaches, arthritis, immune system
deficiencies and many health conditions. However, these uses are still not
yet proven.
The only proven use of aloe when taken internally is as laxative. However,
there is evidence of significant adverse side effects. Therefore, you must
consult your doctor if you plan to take Aloe Vera. Pregnant women should not
take this, because it contains anthraquinone glycosides, which is highly
purgative. High dose of the leaves in fact can cause vomiting.
Aloe’s benefits to our health include, helping to lower the blood sugar
levels in diabetes patients. Aloe is a strong laxative that may have some
anti-cancer effects to humans. It is now being studied as a treatment for
asthma.
If Aloe is taken internally, it increases the actual amount of our bile. It
affects the small intestines and stimulates the muscular coat of the large
intestine thus causing purging in about fifteen hours.
Aloes also help increase the menstrual flow, since it belongs to the group
of emmenagogues. Aloes have Aloin present used for therapeutic purposes.
This causes less pain. It is a preferable drug for many forms of
constipation. Continuous use of it does not lead to enlarging the dose to
take.
There are many well-known medicines that primarily consist of Aloes.
Joyce Dietzel writes articles for for-your-vitamins.com [http://www.for-your-vitamins.com] a website dedicated to all your vitamin and supplement needs [http://www.for-your-vitamins.com/AloeVera.html].
