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Aloe Vera Juice Benefits

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Category: Health

Published on Thursday, 20 October 2011 10:12

Written by Super User

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The many aloe vera juice benefits means that this health supplement is gaining a lot of recognition in the health industry, and more and more companies are adding extracts of it to their products.

Aloe is made by evaporating the juice of aloe leaves. Leaves are cut across the base and arranged so that their juices can be collected. The process takes roughly six hours. The juice is then heated until all the liquid is driven off, leaving large, translucent blocks of the active ingredients. The Cape Aloe comes mainly from South Africa. Aloe barbadensis is grown in the Caribbean. The different aloes from the Caribbean and South Africa contain essentially the same ingredients and produce the same effects. When talking about aloe vera juice benefits, you need to understand that aloe is not the same thing as aloe vera gel. Aloe vera gel is made from the central part of the aloe leaf, not from the juice, and then only from the Caribbean variety, Aloe barbadensis.

According to one account, after the conquest of Persia in 333 B.C., Aristotle advised Alexander the Great to make a detour on his way home to visit the island of Socotra, in the Indian Ocean, to bring home some aloe. Whether the story is true, and scholars do have their doubts, the medicinal properties and aloe vera juice benefits have been recognized for thousands of years. However, large scale commercial production of aloe did not begin until the late 1600s, when traders started to recognize the many health benefits of aloe vera juice and first brought Barbados aloe to London. In the 1860s, two Scottish physicians looking to bring the many aloe vera juice benefits to their clients isolated aloe's active ingredient, called it Aloin (now known as babrolin), and began using it to treat constipation. Throughout much of the 18th and 19th centuries, the aloe vera juice benefits ensured aloe was one of the most frequently prescribed and widely used medications.

Proven Effects And Health Benefits Of Aloe Vera Juice

Aloe, like other members of the Lily family (including senna, cascara and rhubarb), contains molecules called anthraquinones, specifically danthrone, aloin, aloe-emodin anthrone and other anthranoids. When still in the plant, these molecules are tightly bound to sugar molecules, which makes them inactive and prevents them from being absorbed in the stomach and small intestine. When the anthraquinone-sugar complex finally gets to the large intestine, bacteria in the gut remove the sugar molecule, allowing unbound anthraquinone to react with cells on the wall of the large intestine. Anthraquinones cause cells in the intestine to transport water and salts into the intestinal tract. Increased volume stimulates the walls of the colon to contract. Bowel movements usually occur six to ten hours after aloe is taken.

Anti Bacterial And Antiviral Aloe Vera Juice Benefits

Aloe also appears to have anti-bacterial and antiviral effects, and there is some evidence that using aloe can increase immunity and accelerate wound healing. In test tubes, aloes are good antioxidants, a finding that suggests they may have a role in preventing heart disease and aging.Unfortunately, these observations have not been validated in humans. Nor has anyone followed up on laboratory evidence that aloe can help speed up the rate of alcohol metabolism. If the studies could be confirmed, then we could add "effective hangover remedy" to the list of aloe vera juice benefits!

Health Benefits Of Aloe Vera - Skin Complaints And Burns

Aloe vera has been used to heal radiation burns and skin irritation. Even though aloe vera is very widely used to treat an assortment of skin diseases, controlled studies testing its effectiveness in treating these conditions have produced inconclusive results. Some studies have shown that results with aloe vera are no better than with placebo. Many believe that if aloe vera does speed up wound healing, it does so by providing a protective barrier over the wound. On the other hand, there are also convincing studies showing that aloe vera does more than just provide a protective barrier, and that accelerated wound healing really does occur and is definitely one of the aloe vera juice benefits.

Some Negative Health Benefits Of Aloe Vera

Concerns: Aloe taken as a laxative causes intense cramping, and there is something about this particular laxative that tends to make hemorrhoids worse. Hemorrhoid sufferers should consider trying another product. Small amounts of the active ingredient are absorbed from the large intestine, and may appear in mother's milk and in urine. Their presence in the urine could be a disconcerting experience since, depending on the acidity of the urine, its color may turn brown or even red. A handful of reports have described allergic skin reactions after using aloe vera, but given the large numbers of people using aloe vera on their skin, skin reactions must be quite uncommon. The greatest cause for concern is the mounting body of evidence that aloe (but not aloe vera), or at least some of its components, are carcinogenic. That possibility alone should be sufficient to deter the prudent consumer from using this particular laxative more than once or twice.

Warnings: Chronic use of any laxative can deplete the body of potassium, and low levels of potassium can cause dangerous irregularities in the way the heart beats. Anthraquinone-containing laxatives (not just aloe, but also senna) cause an apparently benign condition called melanosis coli. Brownish pigment accumulates in the wall of the large intestine, where it seems to do no harm. Doctors consider melanosis coli to be a marker for laxative abuse. Virtually every scientific body that has reviewed the problem recommends that none of the Lily family laxatives be used for more than 10 days. Because danthrone can cause tumors in laboratory animals, preparations made from danthrone have been withdrawn from the market. Similar tumors have not been reported after using the natural products (aloe, senna, cascara, rhubarb), but most physicians still advise against their chronic use. Aloe should not be used by nursing mothers.

Drug Testing: Aloe will not cause a false positive drug test, but chronic use may cause enough discoloration of the urine to interfere with the testing process, and that could be interpreted as an attempt to avoid being tested.

Dosage: The typical dose is 50 to 200 milligrams taken at bedtime. When aloe vera juice is consumed in drinks, no matter what the contents state on the label, there is really no way to know how much is being taken because it breaks down very rapidly. Neither the U.S. nor the European governments have set limits on the amount that can be added to food or beverages, and consumers should closely read the labels of all products.

Summary: Aloe and aloe vera are different products and should not be confused. Aloe-based products are effective laxatives, but there are many other laxatives that are not suspected carcinogens, that are just as effective, and that do not make urine turn brown or red. While aloe seems to have a range of interesting and potentially beneficial effects in laboratory studies, especially antioxidant effects, these alleged aloe vera juice benefits have been hard to confirm in humans. There are no reports of significant toxicity associated with aloe vera use, and it may produce symptomatic relief for some skin conditions. More miraculous claims for aloe vera juice benefits, such as accelerated wound healing, remain unproven. Unlike aloe, aloe vera is quite nontoxic and safe for use.