Health Matters

The name Aloe Vera or True Aloe stems from the Arabic word Alloeh meaning "shining bitter substance". It is still referred to "bitter aloes" describing the laxative drug still used in the US.

This drug was made from the sap of the plant found under the hard green rind. Aloe Vera has been used by mankind for many thousands of years and has had many references many cultures from the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.

There are also many romantic tales about it, suggesting that the Egyptians queens Nerfertiti and Cleopatra used it as part of their beauty regimes.

The true Aloe has now been endowed with such marvellous properties that over the years around the world, it has been given many wonderful names such as Burn plant, Medicine plant and plant of life. Manufacturing companies to day have sprung up from nowhere to make products out of it and there have been some remarkable results in the general health of the people using it today.

Aloe Vera can be drunk as a nutritional health drink or tonic or it can be applied topically to the skin and scalp as creams and lotions. Like most natural remedies, Aloe works best when it used fresh from the plant but it oxidises rapidly when cut and exposed to the air. Unfortunately it will only grow in warm, fertile areas. If one has access to a mature plant, then the best way is to cut a leaf off it, fillet out the inner leaf gel and use it directly, but for most of us it is necessary to buy a preserved product.

The components of Aloe Vera can be divided in the following main groups:

Vitamins
It is rich in all vitamins, excluding Vitamin D, especially the antioxidant Vitamin A (beta carotene), C and E and even contains a trace of B12, one of the very few plant sources of this vitamin.

Enzymes
Several different types of these biochemical catalysts when taken orally aid digestion by breaking down sugars and fat.

Minerals
Calcium, Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium, Copper, Zinc all essential for the proper functioning of various enzyme systems in different metabolic pathways.

Sugars
These are derived from the mucilage layers of the plant, which surrounds the inner gel -known as mucopolysaccharides, which enhance the immune system and help to detoxify. Aloe Vera contains both mono and polysaccharides, but the most important are the long chain sugars involving glucose and mannose.

Anthraquinones
There are twelve of these Phenolic compounds, which are found exclusively in the plant sap. In small quantities, they aid absorption from the gastro-intestinal tract and have anti-bacterial and pain killing effects.

Lignin
This in itself is an inert substance but when included in topical preparations, it endows Aloe Vera with penetrative effect so the other ingredients are absorbed into the skin.

Saponins
These are soapy substances forming part of the Aloe Vera gel with antiseptic properties to fight off against bacteria and viruses.

Fatty Acids
Cholesterol, Camp sterol, b. Sis sterol and Lupeol are all plant steroids acting as anti-inflammatory agents.

Amino Acids
The body needs 22 amino acids, most of it provided by the gel with anti-bacterial properties.