Aloe vera has been cultivated for thousands of years by desert peoples for one principle reason, the yellow sap from the inner lining of the leaves contains substances that are a powerful laxative. This was important to people in hot, dry places where constipation can be a serious problem. The inner gel of the leaves is used to soothe burned skin. I don't know what part of the Aloe leaf is used in Aloe juice products, but I imagine it has something to do with digestion/elimination.

I just googled "Aloe juice" and see that there are a number products using "whole leaf" to make juice concentrates that are supposed to be "anti-aging", "anti-oxidant", etc. The Oleda product page makes this highly dubious claim:

History and science have shown repeatedly that using the whole leaf maximizes the beneficial effects of the plant.... NOTE: This formula, and the special processing of Oleda Aloe, eliminates the undesirable laxative effect which has been often associated with other "whole leaf" Aloe vera juices. You will only receive the nutritional value with this WHOLE plant Aloe juice.

My BS detectors are ringing very loud.

Another product called "Ultimate Aloe Juice" is $30 for 32 ounces of 150% Aloe juice (using Aloe powder, whatever that is). They make this claim:

"Ultimate aloe juice contains 100 percent aloe juice and 50 percent aloe concentrated powder to equal 150 percent of ultimate aloe. It promotes digestive health and supports a healthy immune system. It demonstrates an anti-inflammatory activity, promotes healing within the digestive tract. It is rich in enzymes, vitamins and minerals, including 13 of the 17 essential minerals for good nutrition."

This stuff is as expensive as Tequila. Personally, I think the benefits of fermented and distilled Agave juice are better than powdered Aloe juice, but then, I could be wrong. ;)

The Aloe vera entry on Wikipedia has a very good history and description of historical and modern uses for Aloe vera. The section on medicinal use notes:

Scientific evidence for the cosmetic and therapeutic effectiveness of Aloe vera is limited and when present is typically contradictory

True that.

It continues:

Despite this, the cosmetic and alternative medicine industries regularly make claims regarding the soothing, moisturising and healing properties of Aloe vera, especially via Internet advertising. Aloe vera gel is used as an ingredient in commercially available lotion, yogurt, beverages and some desserts. Aloe vera juice is used for consumption and relief of digestive issues such as heartburn and irritable bowel syndrome. It is common practice for cosmetic companies to add sap or other derivatives from Aloe vera to products such as makeup, tissues, moisturizers, soaps, sunscreens, incense, razors and shampoos. Other uses for extracts of Aloe vera include the dilution of semen for the artificial fertilization of sheep, use as fresh food preservative, and use in water conservation in small farms.

Wild claims without adequate scientific support, imo.

The FDA has apparently classified aloin (the laxative substance) as a class three ingredient, banning it's use. All Aloe products are supposed to have removed the aloin. You are at the mercy of the producer. No one is testing these products for aloin.

Caveat Emptor

Brad

Thanks a ton for such a quality information...

Don't put anything in your mouth that is a wife's tale. Ask your doctor first. Dont digest things you really don't know anything about. How accurate is this information? Where did it arise, just because the Indians used it doesn't mean we should. If was safe the doctor whould put me on it years ago. Norma

Norma,

I owe what I am today to consuming an Aloe peglerae once every six months. That's my story and I'm sticking to it like white on rice.

CM,

"I owe what I am today to consuming an Aloe peglerae once every six months. That's my story and I'm sticking to it like white on rice."

Now I am curious. HOW do you consume it and WHAT are the benefits you get from it?

Sagebrush

It probably has some medicinal properties although it doesn't look like anyone knows WHAT they are and that it does a lot of things, just inconsistently. So it probably merits more research but I doubt it's a good idea to go using it as a medicine just yet. Outside of minor burns, maybe. It actually does seem to help for that.

I've considered trying aloe vera flavored products before although that's just because I'm a foodie.

Also just googled Aloe Vera and got this picture: http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/474392 Is it just me or is that some sort of pandanus?

Sagebrush - I made that comment tongue-in-cheek.

AMC,

No, it's not just you - I don't know what it is, but that's no Aloe.

Is it possible to extract the juice from your own aloe vera plants? I have five plants outside, I'd love to give it a try.. anybody?

A Hamm,

Not a good idea, did you really think this through? Do you know your plants really are Aloe Vera (rather than other Aloes)? Have they been exposed to insects, pesticides, animal waste?

To be honest, this post is part of my "thinking process". I don't really know who to ask, as my doctor doesn't believe in anything natural. I'd rather not buy aloe juice, if i don't have to, because I'm on a fixed income.. But, from what you're saying, it sounds like juicing my own aloe plant isn't a good idea.

Thanks for the feedback!

Hello Everyone,

I couldn't help chimming in to say that This summer and other summers I have used my Aloe Vera plants to help moisturize my skin while after a long day out in the sun.

One day while boating, My lips were really burned... So I cut a piece of Aloe from my plant and rubbed some on the outer part of my lip...Needless to say, I will never do this again. The taste of the Aloe was terrible!! It took awhile to get rid of the taste of the Aloe...I would never consider drinking anything that tasted so bad...

Just wanted to put my 2 cents in!!!

Laura in VB

Laura, bless you, if it had any merits, it would be adverised more, and prescribed by doctors, Jeff I was wondering what was wrong with you, now I know, but it is great for conversation from Goggle? and I wouldn't recommend it even in jest, especailly from you, no matter you say people on the forum are going to belive and even may get down and kiss your feet for the cure. Norma

There are many benefits to the aloe gel and saying that "...if it had any merits, it would be advertised more, and prescribed by doctors..." is way off. Most doctors will not recommend that their patients use something that will cut into their own profits, nor do most doctors know about the amazing benefits of fresh aloe vera gel. They learn about drugs and surgery in medical school, not natural remedies. They learn how to "treat" the problem, not cure it. There are many powerful remedies that are not approved by the FDA or used in a typical medical practice. Medicinal aloes are only one of them, but a very good one. And their has been a lot of research done to prove it.

The Aloe Vera Miracle

Aloe Vera

A very good source of information on the studies that have been done on the therapeutic benefits of aloe vera is a book titled, "Aloe Vera The New Millennium: The Future of Wellness in the 21st Century", by Bill C. Coats, R.Ph., C.C.N. and Robert Ahola. They discuss mostly stabilized aloe vera, not aloe taken straight from the plant, but there is a wealth of knowledge about the uses of aloe in the book.

Did you know that the pharmaceutical companies have been issued patents on several substances that have been isolated from aloe vera? The same is true of hot peppers, and certainly numerous other plants.

In SA we have a product 'essence of life' which contains aloe extract. Its been around since before I was born and used for constipation or excessive eating (Christmas, LOL!) - bitter as ever, but works in 6 hours you are ready for some more Christmas! Hehehe

I actually found some interesting info recently looking into Haworthia limifolia - This specie is popular in local medical plant trade.Traditional healers as a spiritual remedy to ward off evil as well as a treatment as blood purifiers and cures against coughs, skin rashes, sun burns, burns, etc.

Point made above by others is maybe the important part, there are products made from extracts of aloes, its actually good business here (few factories), but I would not go cutting up aloes - risk vs rewards is not worth it for me and I love my aloes tooo much!

I don't believe there are any risks from eating the gel of an aloe vera leaf. I have followed the instructions given by Mike Adams, the author of the first article I linked to above. All you have to do is use a knife to cut the gel away from the leaf/rind, rinse off the yellow, bitter tasting juice/resin thoroughly under the faucet, and eat the gel or use it on your skin. The gel itself is basically like eating flavorless jello, except it is extremely healthy for you. If it tastes a little bitter you didn't rinse it well enough. For extra health benefits don't fillet the leaf for several hours to a day after you cut it. It can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

In the book, "Aloe Vera The New Millennium: The Future of Wellness in the 21st Century", the authors wrote, "It is important to note that some elements in Aloe Vera such as the anthraquinones and even some enzymes can be toxic if isolated and used in excessive quantities. And yet in the symphony of synergism that takes place inside the complex chemistry of Aloe Vera, they exhibit no such toxicity." Possibly the first toxicology tests that were done were conducted by Lakeland Laboratories in 1966, in Dallas, Texas. They conducted dermal tissue experiments as well as oral dosage tests on 20 rabbits. I quote again, "Drs. Henry Cobble and Mervin Grossman found no toxicity in the vital organs, muscle tissue or skin of any of the animals subjected to testing." Even in extremely high doses the doctors found that "...the toxicity was too insignificant even to record." What do you think would happen if you took a pharmaceutical, any pharmaceutical, even aspirin, in extremely high doses?

According to this and other studies, aloe vera is very safe.

I did a search for "Dividing aloe vera roots" on the ixquick search engine and one of the first sites that came up had some useful information. These aloe vera growers have some very interesting stories to tell. They corroborate some of the research I have read about, and my own personal experiences. Also, a member of this forum (Newme) said that he/she cut the aloe vera plant at the root, and both the root and the top of the plant grew back when it was replanted. Good to know.

Why would you divide the roots?

To propagate the plants more quickly, plus the stem continues to grow upward. I haven't found much at all on the web about this, but it appears as if every so often you need to cut the root. Otherwise the stem will get too tall and make the plant top heavy. Does anyone have experience with this?

Here is a very good site about the health benefits of using aloe vera, both topically and orally. I've read about other uses that aren't mentioned there, like using it on severe frostbite (from the book I mentioned).

Aloe Vera Benefits

No, I'm not going to ingest Aloe vera - I realize this might be as close as I could come to the succulent version of the Acai pyramid marketing scheme/international huckster program, but I'll have to give it a pass.

I've grown hundreds of Aloes, including the real Aloe vera, and I've not heard of / used your method of propagation. It is true that if a leaf with stem tissue is used, it can produce pups, provided one knows what one is doing. Additionally, an Aloe which is usually single-headed can be made to pup by the intentional / unintentional damage to the meristem. Usually, however, and this is true for the real Aloe vera, too, with maturity comes pupping.

The stem being too tall and the plant top-heavy - whoever gave you that information is misinformed. Aloes grow the root system they need, generally, if given proper growing conditions. The root ball being cleaned up/cut is part of some folks' (including mine) custom of repotting, but other folks plop the whole rootball in, completely undisturbed, into new soil / a larger pot.

I was looking up sources of aloe vera leaves and I found a site that sells leaves and plants, and the plants they sell have been cut at the meristem (thanks for the correct term). They recommend digging a hole (or preparing a planter) that will cover half the height of the plant. This will anchor the plant, and new leaves will emerge when the plant has rooted itself. Apparently, you can propagate an aloe vera plant this way.

I cut some of the lower leaves on my aloe vera plants and the meristem was a several inches above the soil as a result. It seemed to me that as more leaves grew above it, if I didn't repot it and put the stem below the soil again it would become top heavy due to the lack of support. Maybe not, but I also noticed that in the photos I have seen of aloe farms, none of the plants have the meristem clearly showing more than a few inches above the soil, and they harvest those plants every year.

The health benefits of aloe vera have been confirmed by researchers from all over the world, over a period of many years.

I tried to find 'confirmation' of aloe benefits in a real scientific study and there were really rather few that really seemed to be real studies... mostly just repeated anecdotal information.

Found this short interesting article, though:
http://www.shape.com/weight-loss/food-weight-loss/ask-diet-doctor-truth-about-aloe-vera-juice

I am very fair skinned. I got a third degree burn where my eye was burned , cheek was burned almost to the bone, arm, body on one side. my face was permanently de-freckled. I was in reverse isolation for 3 weeks.The small hospital in Hawaii didn't know what to do. no pulling of scabs like they do now. They smeared antibiotic creams on me and probably sulfur. On the advise of an old Hawaiian lady, a traditional medicine who woman brought me aloe vera . This was in Hawaii in '73. The burns had scabbed a bit before she got there and I used it for a year because my face was red for a while. I have no scarring and no freckles where I was burned. In truth , a lot of things were used. In combination, they worked great. The doctors were amazed. I think every cosmetic surgeon had dropped off their card in hopes of further business. Since then I have used aloe to heal motorcycle exhaust pipeburns on my legs. No scars there either. The voodoo magic works on me. I planted a whole bank of it in my home there. The old lady used to tell her people with ulcers to come get some leaves and plants from me for them to grow. I hear through the grapevine ( I left hawaii in 77) that for a long time, my aloe bank was used by many in the village. I do keep my use to burns and skin ailments.

Steve beat me to it.

You can buy flavored aloe Vera near the coconut water, or you can buy huge jugs of it back with the laxatives in most supermarkets. I'm assuming this is nationwide.

http://www.aloegloe.com/Home.html

It can be used to treat GERD and as a laxative. Some people toute it as a good way to stay hydrated.

Here's something a little more official on the matter: http://www.m.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-607/aloe/source-3

And if you just search 'drink aloe Vera' you'll find a lot of holistic websites and blogs with their ideas of what it does to benefit you.

Personally I hate the taste, and I'm concerned about the laxative affect, so I'll stick to my coconut water for the most part.