Aloe is one of the most ancient plants used for medicinal purposes. The ancient Chinese and Egyptians knew it as a remedy for treating burns, wounds and reducing fever. Alexander the Great captured the island of Socotra, only for the sake of aloe, which his wounded soldiers needed. Cleopatra took the juice of this plant daily for skincare. And in 1944, the Japanese, exposed to atomic influence, used a gel from it for the treatment and faster healing of wounds.
Aloe VERA Characteristics
Biologists know about 400 types of aloe, but aloe vera is the most popular. Aloe is a perennial succulent plant native to East Africa. Aloe has no stem, and in the natural environment, the plant can reach 80-100 cm in height. The lanceolate leaves are thick, fleshy, green, or gray-green with serrated edges.
Some leaves can reach 7-10 cm in width and weigh up to 2 kg. They consist of 4 parts: peel (it is an outer protective layer), juice (a bitter liquid that serves as a protection for the plant from animals), vegetable mucus, and gel-like pulp (used for making various products based on aloe). The leaves of the plant taste bitter (hence the name: “aloe” is translated as “bitter”).
Chemical composition of Aloe VERA
Aloe vera contains more than 200 biologically active natural components: polysaccharides, vitamins, enzymes, amino acids, anthraquinones, saponins, organic acids, phytoncides, esters, phenols, resins, and minerals. These elements contribute to the absorption of nutrients, improve the functioning of the digestive system, strengthen the immune system, and cleanse the body of toxins. There are 20 amino acids in the composition of aloe, including essential ones for humans. Aloe gel is a storehouse of antioxidant vitamins A, C, E, and B vitamins. The mineral complex in aloe is rich: calcium, copper, selenium, chromium, manganese, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and zinc. The chemical composition of this succulent also includes 12 anthraquinones, which act on the human body as a laxative.
Emodin gives it the properties of an analgesic and antiviral drug. The leaves of this succulent contain fatty acids and carbohydrates. Another interesting group of components of aloe is hormones. They can accelerate the healing process of wounds. A plant with such a unique and rich chemical composition has some beneficial properties. The role of this plant for human health is impressive.
Health benefits of aloe juice
- improves the functioning of the digestive organs
- moisturizes the skin
- supports the health of the immune system
- cleanses the body of toxins
- improves the absorption of nutrients
- has a high antioxidant capacity
- supports the natural acidity of the body
- it has a beneficial effect on the health of muscles and joints
- prevents cardiovascular diseases
- has disinfecting, antifungal, antiseptic, bactericidal, antiviral properties
- improves blood oxygenation
- slows down the aging process
- reduces cholesterol and glucose in the blood
ALOE JUICE BENEFITS
Specialists can explain the health benefits of aloe juice by its unique chemical composition. We can systematize the healing properties of this plant into large groups since there are just a number of them:
– antimicrobial and antifungal properties
– anti-inflammatory effect
– moisturizing and soothing effect (on the skin)
– positive effect on different body systems: digestive, immune, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, genitourinary
Application of ALOE JUICE
The plant can have a very positive effect on many functions of the human body. It is so appreciated both in folk medicine and in traditional. We can highlight its specific medicinal properties:
- The use of drops of aloe juice can quickly stop a runny nose.
- Angina, tonsillitis, pharyngitis, and other ailments will recede faster.
- The juice can disinfect the wound and heal it as soon as possible. Here its bactericidal and regenerative properties come into effect.
- Aloe juice helps to fight anemia.
- After severe illnesses, specialists recommend including aloe juice in the diet (to improve digestion, metabolism, and general physical condition)
- It helps to fight tuberculosis (with hot milk)
- Herpes can go away in 1-2 days if you drink aloe vera juice.
- Toothache most often passes only after the use of medications-tablets. The aloe leaf is also able to cope with this task.
Advertising of laxatives on TV has already bored many people. Marketers are intensively trying to promote them, using various methods of influencing a potential buyer. Aloe juice also has a positive effect on the gastrointestinal tract.
And these are not the only medicinal properties of it, but only one of the most often used in practice. When using aloe juice, you can treat diseases without using pills. You can buy it at a pharmacy, or prepare it yourself. The pharmacy sells products made based on aloe juice. The problem is that this juice is in a processed form. It is better to prepare a drink yourself. The main thing is to do it correctly.
ALOE JUICE Soothing effect on the skin
Many people are familiar with the use of aloe for the face and body skin, and this is a common ingredient that is found in natural products to moisturize the skin or reduce inflammation. Specialist using aloe vera gel as a topical treatment for sunburn.
Some people use aloe vera gel for skin diseases such as psoriasis or herpes. Probably, the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of aloe promote healing. Aloe vera juice is also used as a skin moisturizer or to relieve irritation of the scalp.
Promoting hydration
Adding aloe vera juice to your diet is a great way to ensure proper hydration. And this, in turn, helps to maintain the regularity of the stool, brain function, physical performance, water balance, and body temperature. In addition to moisturizing, aloe vera juice can also provide the necessary dose of electrolytes, antioxidants, and vitamins. This can be especially useful after an intense workout to speed up muscle recovery and replenish electrolytes that may have been lost due to sweat.
Relief of digestive problems
When taken orally as a drink, aloe can also help with digestive problems, especially gastroesophageal reflux disease (or GERD). Although the latex part has also been used as a laxative (and in many laxative medications) to help reduce constipation, it is not recommended to use it yourself, as it may not be safe. There are many safe ways to get rid of constipation, as it is very difficult to accurately measure the number of anthraquinones present in your aloe drink.
Prevention of diseases
In addition to soothing sunburn, studies show that aloe vera may have additional benefits, including anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and anti-diabetic effects, as well as antioxidant, antimicrobial, antifungal, and anti-allergic properties. Studies have shown that aloe can be especially useful for diabetes, as it can potentially help control and lower blood glucose levels by controlling plasma sugar levels.
Do not use aloe juice in food without consulting your doctor. It can be dangerous for your health and life!
ALOE JUICE Contraindications
There are some caveats to using aloe. It is important to understand that any treatment is an intervention in the body’s functions. Therefore, the responsibility for the result lies with you.
- Pregnant women should not use aloe juice.
- You should also refrain from it if you are allergic to the plant.
- Severe course of the disease.
- The diagnosis is not entirely clear. It is better to immediately consult a doctor for advice.
Aloe juice cures many diseases. However, it is better to discuss the use of juice with your doctor. The doctor can individually prescribe treatment or make adjustments to prescriptions.
How to make aloe juice?
Freshly squeezed juice has the most pronounced therapeutic and preventive, restorative properties. And if you properly prepare the aloe juice, its use will bring maximum benefit. So how to cook it?
- Select the appropriate sheet. It’s not so easy, because not every one of them is suitable for this. You need to cut only those leaves that are located at the very bottom, closer to the base and rhizome.
Their length should be: at least-10 centimeters, the optimum-15 or more. They are the most mature and healing. A good reference point is the tip of the leaf: if it has turned yellow, then you can safely use it for treatment or cosmetology.
2.It is not recommended to store the cut leaf for more than 5 hours. After this period, it will simply begin to gradually lose its medicinal properties. So, here we should be guided by the principle: “cut — we cook”.
- And it’s very easy to prepare juice. And it is not necessary to have any special devices at your disposal for this. An ordinary kitchen knife is enough. The leaf is cut off, thoroughly washed with clean water, crushed, folded into sterile gauze (it can be laid in several layers, to avoid getting into the squeezed liquid — pulp), squeezed out. Everything is ready.
This is the simplest recipe. For specific indications of the use of the product, special recipes are used, but the one given above will be needed in most cases since it is the juice that is the main component of the vast majority of them.
Recipes with ALOE JUICE
- When coughing
Succulent juice (30 milliliters), natural bee honey (15 grams, preferably fresh), cranberry juice (30 milliliters). Here, as in other recipes, the proportions can be increased, respectively increasing the proportion of each of the constituent components in the recipe.
Mix everything, you can use a blender for this. Insist for several, at least-2, hours. Use 1.5 spoons, regardless of the diet, from 3 to 4 times during the day. The course is calculated for 5-7 days. It is better to prepare a fresh mixture every 24 hours. Most often, aloe juice with honey is used to treat many diseases, there are a lot of recipes, the range of applications is quite wide.
- For heartburn, colitis, gastritis, ulcers
Boiled, and pre-cooled, water (approximately 250 milliliters, this is almost 1 cup), squeezed juice (a full tablespoon), calamus (crushed root) – a full tablespoon. Calamus is infused in water and then languishes for 15 minutes in the “bath”. Mix the resulting liquid with the juice. Before the proposed meal, about 25 minutes before it, drink the resulting decoction of 125-150 milliliters, several times a day, 14-15 days in a row. For the treatment of colitis, plantain leaves are added to the broth and the proportion of juice is increased to 55 milliliters.
- With a runny nose, tonsillitis, pharyngitis
Juice diluted with clean drinking or distilled pharmacy water (approximate proportions, 1:1) should be used for instilling the nose or gargling. There is one important point here.
Although it should be stored, like any remedy prepared using this ingredient, in a dark, cool place, the temperature of the liquid immediately before use should be at least 37.5 degrees. It can be heated in a water bath. Drip, rinse should be 4-5 times during the day, the average course is about 6 days.
The rate of use ALOE JUICE
Aloe juice can bring both benefits and harm. So how much juice can you drink per day?
Recipes of traditional medicine limit a single intake of juice to 10 ml. For the treatment of some diseases, only a few drops are enough. Other recipes suggest 5-10 ml of juice 2-3 times a day. Juice and mixtures with aloe are usually taken half an hour before meals.
SUMMING UP
The aloe vera plant is a super-moisturizing ingredient with anti-inflammatory properties, so it has been used for centuries to treat burns in many different cultures. Almost all lovers of home vegetation have this indoor flower. In captivity, it does not bloom and does not bear fruit, but it lives for a very long time, for which it got its second name – agave (blooms at home once in a hundred years).
Aloe juice is an unusual drink. Its taste seems non-standard, unlike fruit and berry juices. However, this drink is beneficial for your body. It contains vitamins and minerals. Aloe juice improves the condition of the skin, gastrointestinal tract, and liver. The aloe vera plant is mainly famous for its gel consistency. Specialists use it to make creams and skin products. The drink is better for internal transformations of the body. If you are worried about the composition of medicines with aloe juice, it is better to make a drink yourself.
There are many recipes for cooking, so choose the most convenient for you. Moreover, the stores often sell drinks that have already lost most of the useful substances. It is better to consume it fresh. Such a drink will retain most of the vitamins and minerals that improve human health. Stop believing the stereotypes about the unpleasant taste of aloe juice and start preparing a drink at home! It will be inexpensive and beneficial for health!
