Aloe Vera

The Aloe plant has fascinated mankind for thousands of years. It's been used in numerous civilizations for it's medicinal properties or for it's positive effect on the general wellness of the body.

Although Aloe is a whole family of related plants, the one most commonly referred to is Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis Mill). It's a short stemmed plant, found mainly in hot, dry climates. It's exactly this natural climate distribution that has given Aloe Vera one of it's properties: The leaves of the plant are kept upright by the water pressure in the leaves themselves. If a leaf is cut, or scratched, the plant excretes a gel, which covers the cut and stops any moisture loss and starts to heal the injury. After a short time, the cut is filmed over completely and the plant has effectively used it's own sap to heal itself.

Sap from the Aloe Vera plant contains over 70 active ingredients such as:

• Amino Acids
• Enzymes
• Hormones
• Minerals
• Sterols
• Sugars
• Vitamins

One of the key ingredients are the long chain sugars (MPS) which have been scientifically proven to have strong antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties.

Throughout the ages, Aloe Vera has been used by many civilizations, both for it's medicinal properties (The Romans and Greeks used Aloe Vera to treat injuries and burns) and for it's benefits as a beauty product (Cleopatra used Aloe Vera as a skin care product). The plant' s sap was even used as an embalming fluid by the Egyptians.

Health benefits of Aloe Vera are numerous. The plant has been cited as providing relief from a whole host of ailments, including cuts, colds, herpes, acne, allergies, bee stings, insect bites, gum sores, ulcers, sunburn and many, many more.

Recent studies have shown Aloe Vera to be effective in the treatment of Crohn's Disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease, Diverticulosis and Diverticulitis. A recent article from Prima Magazine in the UK described one woman's plight with Crohn's Disease and the how she managed to change her life using an Aloe Vera product, AloeRide.

The long chain sugars found in Aloe Vera extracts are known to have beneficial effect on a person's immune system and some advanced studies are being made on the possible benefits such extracts could have on treatment of the HIV virus and certain types of cancer. Particularly concerning cancer, patients receiving chemotherapy as part of their treatment have seen considerable benefits from the addition of Aloe Vera extracts during their therapy.