Benefit Of Aloe Vera

Aloe vera is a perennial plant that belongs to the lily family. It is not a cactus, even though it looks like a cactus. It grows wild in Madagascar and on the African continent. Because of its theraeputic properties, it is now commercially cultivated in the United States, Japan, the Caribbeans and the Mediterranean countries.

Aloe constituents are derived from the aloe leaf which consists of three primary sections:

The rind (photosynthesis takes place in it) with sap contained in the pericyclic transport tubules (xylem and phloem), the mucilage (container) layer and the parenchyma or gel fillet (storage) layer. The most important part of aloe is its aloe vera gel. It is a thin, clear, jellylike substance that can be squeezed from the inner part of the fresh leaf. A soothing juice is also made from this gel.

Of the 240+ species of Aloe, four are recognized as having nutritional value, with Aloe "barbadensis miller" leading the group.

How does Aloe Vera work for our health?    

SYNERGY EFECT

It is the synergetic effect of the whole Aloe Vera plant that has such a healing power. In short, synergistic
action between all the component ingredients, is giving a result which is greater than the sum of the individual
actions.

It is like Symphony Orchestra with 75 nutrients (and 200 active compounds), including 20 minerals, 20 amino acids, and 12 vitamins in it, conducted by water in Aloe Vera Gel.

Aloe Vera is ADAPTOGEN that corrects broad range of imbalances. It means that our body takes whatever is important for it from Aloe Vera.

MAIN CONSTITUENTS OF ALOE VERA

Vitamins:

A (Beta Carotene), B1 (Thiamine), B2 (Riboflavin), B3 (Niacin), B5, B6 (Pyridoxine), B12, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Folic Acid, Choline.

Minerals:

Calcium, Sodium, Zinc, Chromium, Potassium, Magnesium, Copper, Manganese and Selenium the well known anti-oxidant.

Amino Acids:

They are building blocks of proteins. Aloe vera gel provides 20 of the 22 necessary amino acids required by the human body.

• 7 of 8 Essential Amino-Acids (essential means that our body can NOT synthesise them; these must be ingested in food)
• 13 Secondary Amino-Acids

Trace Elements

• Enzymes:

Aliiase, Amylase, Catalase, Bradykinase, Lipases and Proteases

• Saponins:

These soapy substances in the gel have natural cleansing and antiseptic properties.
They provide powerful anti-microbials, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anty-yeasts properties of Aloe Vera.

• Lignin:

It allows skin Penetration

• Anthraquinones:

- Barbaloin-lO
- lsobarbaloin
- Anthrone-C-glycosides and chromones

In large amounts they have a powerful purgative effect, but in smaler quantities, they appear to aid absorption from the gut, are potent antimicrobial agents, and possess powerful analgesic effects. Topically, they can absorb ultra violet light, inhibit tyronase activity, reduce the formation of melanin and any tendency to hyper-pigmentation.

• Acemannan polysaccharides:

Boosts body's immune system

• Plant Sterols:

These include Campesterol, f3 Sitosterol and Lupeol

• Sallcylic acid:

It is an aspirin-like compound in Aloe Vera Gel that has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. Topically, it has a kerolytic effect which helps to debride a wound of necrotic tissue.

The excellent summary in the table lists, not only constituents and properties of Aloe Vera but
activities and effects in our body. Please click here to download the summary table.

Aloe Vera is one of the oldest medicinal plants known to mankind. All great civilazations: Chineese, Hindu, Summer, Egypt, Greec, Rome have been using it as a safe, natural herbal remedy for various purpose:

- to heal numerous internal and external ailments
- for beauty regimes
- to treat skin problems
- to heal wounds

Because of plant's therapeutic properties, Aloe Vera has been named by different words and has been always regarded as one of the best medicinal plants.

Chinese doctors called it the “harmonic remedy”.
The Russians call Aloe Vera the “elixir of longevity”.
The American Indians have a special word for it “the silent healer“.
In ancient Egypt Aloe Vera was considered to be the "plant of Immortality".

FABLES AND MYTH

There are many fables and myths surrounding aloe Vera’s history. For example, that the Egyptian
queens, Cleopatra and Nefertiti were thought to have used Aloe as part of their beauty regimes.

Alexander the Great, after conquering Persia in 333BC, was said to have been persuaded by his mentor Aristotle, to capture the island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean. This battle was fought in order to secure the island’s famed aloe supplies that were needed to treat Alexander’s wounded soldiers.

Another popular myth is From the Bible's mention of removing Christ from the cross and wrapping his body in aloes and myrrh.

RECORDED HISTORY

The plant is widely known in Asia and the Pacific, and is found in the folklore of the Japanese, the Philippines and the Hawaiians. The Spanish used Aloe, and carried it with them to their new world colonies in South America and the Caribbean.

The recorded history of medicinal aloes dates to the second millennium BC in Summer, the land later known as Babylonia. Throughout the entire history of Summer, its spiritual and cultural center was the city of Nippur, situated about a hundred miles south of modern Baghdad. Archaeologists have located in Nippur the site of the Qula temple, one of the oldest temples for medication and treatment of diseases. Excavations at this site have yielded thousands of clay tablets with contents that shows botanical sources for materia medica and prescriptions that shows a wide variety of indigenous and imported botanical drugs, aloes among them. Other tablets include aloes in list of drugs simples, which index pharmacological action and the parts of plants to be used.

The first detailed discussion of Aloe's medicinal value is probably that which is found in the Papyrus ebers, an Egyptian document written around B.C.E. 1550. This document gives twelve formulas for mixing Aloe with other agents to treat both internal and external human disorders.

The first milestone in Western man's detailed understanding of medicinal plants is the work of Hippocrites (460B.C.- 375B.C.), the father of modern medicine (doctors today still take the Hippocratic Oath). His Material Medica makes no direct mention of Aloe, but during that same period, the plant, according to Copra's Indigenous Drugs of India, had come into widespread use. Interestingly, Copra writes, "The use of Aloes, the common musabbar, for external application to inflamed painful parts of the body and for causing purgation [internal cleansing] are too well known in India to need any special mention."

In Greek pharmacology, the plant was first mentioned by Celsius (B.C. 25-50 A.D.), but his comments were limited to its power as a purgative. The first Western benchmark in man's understanding of Aloe is the Greek herbal of Dioscorides (41 A.D.-68 A.D.). This master of Roman pharmacology developed his knowledge and skill as he traveled with that great empire's armies. Dioscorides gave the first detailed description of the plant we call Aloe Vera, and attributed to its juices "the power of binding, of inducing sleep." He noted as well that it "loosens the belly, cleansing the stomach." He further added that this "bitter" Aloe (the sap) was a treatment for boils; that it eased hemorrhoids; that it aided in healing bruises; that it was good for the tonsils, the gums, and all general mouth irritations; and that it worked as a medicine for the eyes. Dioscorides further observed that the whole leaf, when pulverized, could stop the bleeding of many wounds.

COMMERCIAL EXPLOATATION

The earliest description of the manufacture of drug aloes comes from the 9th century Persian merchant Abu Hanifeh, who reported the production of Arabian aloes from Aloe barbadensis. The Arabs crushed and threw mature leaves into presses, where they were trodden until the juice flowed. The mass was then left to thicken, put into leather bags and exposed to the sun until dry. Later manufacturing methods are not drastically more sophisticated.

MODERN USE

Modern use of Aloe Vera was first documented in the 1930s to heal radiation burns. It was also used after the Second World War to aid the victims of the fallout in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. It was reported that the victims who were treated with Aloe Vera showed signs of increased tissue growth and reduced pain, where other medicines had failed.

In 1960's Dr. Bill Coates, a pharmacist from Dallas, Texas, discovered a method to extract and stabilise the 'gel' from the leaves using a process which retained the full potency of this amazing healing plant. It paved the road to success of FLP companies.