more than a cosmetic superstar (1)

My yard is an aloe farm, and each day before I make my superfood breakfast smoothie, I walk out to my yard, slice off an aloe vera leaf, thank the plant for granting me its healing medicine, then I fillet the leaf and drop the aloe vera gel into my blender.

“A few minutes later, I’m enjoying the most impressive medicinal herb that nature has ever created. When I say aloe vera is the most impressive medicinal herb invented by nature, I don’t make that statement lightly.

“Of all the herbs I’ve ever studied and I’ve written thousands of articles on nutrition and disease prevention, aloe vera is the most impressive herb of them all. (Garlic would be a close second.)

“There is nothing on this planet that offers the amazing variety of healing benefits granted by aloe vera,” says Mike Adams, an enthusiastic supporter of natural medicine who personally grows and eats aloe vera plants in Tucson, Arizona, USA.

Our Professor Oyeku Akibu Oyelami also has an aloe vera plantation. He told me he ingests the aloe vera gel and that he produces aloe vera soap.

The part I find most thrilling about our discussion is the story he shared with me about a woman who was on antiretroviral (HIV medications) but stopped taking the drugs barely four weeks into the treatment due to some side effects like extreme weakness, vomiting, dizziness and diarrhoea which she termed unbearable.

He said the woman refused to re-commence the antiretroviral medications despite counselling and persuasions. He said the woman then decided to give aloe vera a trial. She did well on aloe vera, her CD4 count rose and her weight also increased.

Who would ever believe that aloe vera has such anti-viral capabilities? Dr C Pfeiffer was right after all when he said, “For every drug that benefits a patient, there is a natural substance that can achieve the same effect.”

While I was young, I read a woman’s interview. When she was asked why she had great skin, she said, “When the inside is good, the outside will be good.” She then said daily, she took aloe vera gel.

If you still have not met the queen among plants, it is time! Aloe vera is botanically known as Aloe barbadensis miller. It was named after the botanist Miller who discovered it on the island of Barbados and included it in the register of medicinal plants.

It belongs to the family Asphodelaceae (Liliaceae). In cultures the world over, from India to Rome, the Aloe’s natural healing powers have been used to treat bites, burns, inflammation and many more ailments.

It is a natural first-aid kit! The Egyptians famously knew aloe vera as the ‘plant of immortality’ and used it to treat infections and diseases spanning many generations over centuries.

Egyptian queens Nefertiti and Cleopatra used it as part of their regular beauty regimens. Alexander the Great and Christopher Columbus used it to treat soldiers’ wounds. Remnants of Aloe plants have been found in many of the ancient pharaohs’ tombs.

The cosmetic, pharmaceutical and food industries use aloe vera extensively. It is used on facial tissues where it is promoted as a moisturizer and anti-irritant to reduce chafing of the nose. Cosmetic companies commonly add sap or other derivatives from Aloe vera to products such as makeup, tissues, moisturizers, soaps, sunscreens, incense, shaving cream or shampoos.

Two substances from aloe vera – a clear gel and its yellow latex are used to manufacture commercial products. Aloe gel typically is used to make topical medications for skin conditions, such as burns, wounds, frostbite, rashes, psoriasis, cold sores and dry skin. The gel is also used commercially as an ingredient in yoghurts, beverages, and some desserts.

Aloe latex is used individually or manufactured as a product with other ingredients to be ingested for relief of constipation. The gel is made up of water, 20 minerals, 18- 20 amino acids, 200 active plant compounds phytonutrients which include: enzymes, triterpenes ( a phytonutrient that lowers blood sugar), glyconutrients and glycoproteins; polysaccharides, including acemannan, mannose-6- phosphate and polymannans, phenolic glycosides, including dihydrocoumarins.

Meanwhile, below are some of the health benefits of aloe vera

Lowers blood sugar:

Ingesting two tablespoons of aloe vera juice per day can cause blood sugar levels to fall in people with type 2 diabetes, according to a study in Phytomedicine: International Journal of Phytotherapy and Phytopharmacy.

This could mean that aloe vera may have a future in diabetes treatment. These results were confirmed by another study published in Phytotherapy Research that used pulp extract.

However, people with diabetes, who take glucose-lowering medications should use caution when consuming aloe vera. The juice along with diabetes medications could lower your glucose count to dangerous levels.

Accelerates wound healing:

People most often use aloe vera as a topical medication, rubbing it on the skin rather than consuming it. It has a long history of use in treating sores and particularly burns, including sunburn. Studies suggest that it is an effective topical treatment for first and second-degree burns.

For example, a review of experimental studies found that aloe vera could reduce the healing time of burns by around nine days compared with conventional medication. It also helped prevent redness, itching and infections.

Reduces dental plaque

Tooth decay and diseases of the gum are common health problems. One of the best ways to prevent these conditions is to reduce the buildup of plaque, or bacterial biofilms on the teeth. In a study of 152 school children ages 8-14 years, researchers compared an aloe vera mouthwash with the standard mouthwash ingredient chlorhexidine.

After four weeks of use, the aloe vera mouth rinse decreased plaque, gingivitis, and salivary Streptococcus mutans (a plaque-producing bacterium), making it comparable to that of chlorhexidine. Another 2021 study concluded that aloe vera mouthwash is an effective natural alternative to chemically formulated mouthwashes. Aloe vera gel is also effective in killing a yeast found in the mouth known as Candida albicans.

Reduces constipation:

Aloe vera may help treat constipation. This time, it is the latex, not the gel, that provides the benefits. The latex is a sticky yellow residue present just under the skin of the leaf. The key compound responsible for this effect is called aloin or barbaloin, which has well-established laxative effects.

A study titled Hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effect of Aloe vera L. in non-insulin-dependent diabetics by Monika Choudhary et al, concludes that hence it can be inferred from the results that supplementation of Aloe vera L. gel powder along with nutrition counselling significantly reduced blood glucose levels and blood pressure along with an improvement in lipid profile in the non-insulin dependent diabetics.

A study titled The Effect of Aloe Vera Clinical Trials on Prevention and Healing of Skin Wound: A Systematic Review by Davood Hekmatpou, concludes that considering the tendency to promote traditional medicine as well as rare side effects of Aloe vera, the use of this medicinal plant to improve wound healing is recommended as the complementary treatment alongside other methods.