Alo Alo, what’s that? A cactus?

Actually no, it’s a lily, but that’s not the point. Â Quite apart from the stunning yellow bloom that aloe vera puts up to attract pollenators, it has usefulness far beyond the proliferation of its own species (unlike some mammals I know). Â Since times immemorial (1553BC to be precise), aloe has been prized for its ability to help humanity cope with the various nefarious ailments that have been thrown in our path whilst we’ve been around.

The Egyptians, obsessed as they seem to have been with their looks, got the hang 0f aloe at the cosmetics counter and Cleopatra (more name-checking to come) considered it her beauty secret. Â At least that’s what we’re told, and if it’s true then the queen was no slouch, because Aloe’s usefulness has progressed into acceptedness by modern western medicine far ahead of many other traditional remedies.

The aloe family contains about 300 varietals but most attention has focused on the brightest child – aloe barbadensis, for a number of reasons. Â Whilst most of the members of the aloe clan lay claim to some wound healing properties, aloe barbadensis has a formidable arsenal at its disposal which affords it the capability to assist our bodies in dealing with some of the uglier illnesses that plague our race. Â Aloe barbadensis contains gzillions of active components for healing and helping our bodies (more of these later) but by for the most interesting of these have to be the polysaccharides acemannan and aloeverose. Â These are essentially long-chain sugar molecules or pre-biotic fibres – code for: extremely helpful things to eat alot of. Â Their main functions in the human body are the nourishing of beneficial bacteria in our gut and, possibly more importantly, boosting our immune systems by stimulating the production of killer T cells and macrophages (types of white blood cells). Â It is for this reason that the US Department of Agriculture have approved the use of an extract of aloe vera in the treatment of canine and feline fibrosarcoma, and type of cancer heretofore with no effective treatment protocol. Â On exposure to acemannan, tumours of this type are reportedly encapsulated and killed, facilitating their removal through surgery. Â As yet this type of treatment is not officially approved for use in humans although in-vitro testing of aloe extracts on human cancer cells has shown some convincing results. Â A folk remedy (traditionally used to fight cancer) involving a combination of aloe vera mixed in equal weights with raw honey in a whiskey or rum base (what a cocktail!) has its origins amongst indigenous Brazilian peoples and has spread around the world. Â The specific combination of these two nutritional powerhouses, although without any double-blind placebo controlled hi-tech studies to back them up, certainly has the potential to improve our well-being and support your immunity whether it be impaired to begin with or if you are simply interested in giving your body better odds in this virus and bacteria ridden planet we like to call home.

The use of aloe vera internally is most common in cases of ulcerative colitis, IBD (inflammatory bowel disease), and other conditions that involve inflammation of the lining of the gut wall. Â Aloe has a powerful ability to soothe such conditions, providing relief and aiding healing. Â One interesting study looked at the ability of aloe to reduce the putrefaction of proteins in the lower gut. Â An inability to break down and fully excrete proteins from the gut has strong associations with the development of bowel cancer due to the enzymes produced by bacteria that feed on undigested proteins in the gut. Â The study showed after only seven days that bowel habits were normalised significantly in both frequency and consistency (I’ll leave fuller explanation to your imaginations). Â Aloe’s anti-inflammatory action is coupled with a mild stimulant laxative component – one that you should be careful of if you suffer from sensitivity to compounds such as coffee or chilli. Â But as long as you are taking the whole aloe, not a concentrated extract, this effect is usually masked by aloe’s other components and forms part of the synergistic benefits that of whole leaf aloe vera. Â Also a quick note on aloe vera and candida albicans – studies are ongoing and somewhat inconclusive, but it seems at high doses and over longer periods, aloe vera displays an inhibitory action on yeasts such as candida and as such could be included in an anti-candida dietary protocol as an aid to gut healing. Â With that all explained it’s possibly not necessary to tell you about aloe’s use as part of a detox, except to say that it’s a bloody useful. Â There you go, we told you after all. Â So it’s clear now, right?

So after all that weirdness on to the least esoteric use of aloe.  Pretty much the whole world is now familiar with what to reach for when they knock a kettle of boiling water over their friends leg in a rush to get to the Rich Teas.  Aloe has amazing properties to stop the hurt(it contains salicylic acid which is what aspirin is derived from), whilst its anti-inflammatory compounds get to work on reducing the welt and its amino acids (it contains all the essential ones and some extra just to be showy) help repair the damaged tissue.  For all these reasons, aloe is helpful for myriad skin conditions – psoriasis, eczema, impetigo…the list goes on and on.  Just one note of caution, the mucilage (jelly-like substance) that is so helpful in most cases, doesn’t really allow the skin to breath, so in conditions such as eczema when the skin is trying to release excess heat from the body (that’s another day’s blog) a good idea is to apply aloe to the affected area and then wash it off after an hour or so.  This should prevent any irritation from occurring.

So there you have it aloe vera – a magic plant. Â But then most plants are magic, just not so famous as aloe vera. Â If you are interested in learning more about aloe or the use of other easily sourced, inexpensive natural remedies, why not pop into us in The Hopsack where we are keen to help you explore the world of natural healthcare to keep you and your family and friends in good health for the years to come.

Sinister commercial undertone: Â The Hopsack also stocks aloe vera in many shapes and sizes for use on or in the body and in conjunction with many other helpful nutrients and herbal components. Â The best recent additions to our aloe lineup are most definitely Pukka’s Clean Greens, a superb detoxifying, alkalising wonder-supplement, and Lilly of the Desert Organic Aloe Vera Juice, a juice containing whole leaf aloe vera with patented extract they call ‘Aloesorb’ which sort of does what it say on the tin – aids absorption of other nutrients…such as vitamin C…by up to 40%!! Wow.

Now of course any of you looking to cure some of the serious ailments mentioned in this article must surely be attending a consultant or physician of some sort and anything you take from this article is not designed in anyway to replace or override his/her sagely advice. Â We are merely here to report information that we hope you will find a thoroughly interesting read and perhaps fuel a bit more research on your part, some conversation or even a full blown argument…hopefully not the latter.