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Aloe Vera - Aloe Barbadensis

What is Aloe Vera?

It may sound like someone greeting a friend but we’re actually talking about an unassuming plant that grows in arid areas of Africa, Asia, Europe and America. It is a stemless succulent member of the lily and onion family, quite similar to a cactus. Its leaves contain a clear gel, the medicinal properties of which have been used for several thousand years as salve for the skin or a tonic for the body.

How is Aloe Vera Made? If you had your own plant, it would simply be a case of cracking open a leaf and applying the gel to wherever it was needed but, as most of us don’t, several manufacturers do the job for you, either processing the whole leaf to create gels, lotions, concentrates and powders or just processing the gel from the leaf itself. What is Aloe Vera Used For? Contrary to what you might have seen on the TV, it’s not just an additive for shampoo. Aloe Vera lotion speeds up the rate of healing for skin injuries and can be used to treat sunburn and minor burns and also skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema. The juices and gels for taking internally act as an antioxidant and can boost your immune system. They can also be taken to help treat asthma, epilepsy and arthritis. Not bad for a cactus! Aloe Vera and Cancer It’s not going to cure cancer but some of the components in Aloe Vera are able to switch on the bodies immune system, enabling it to attack cancerous cells. Other components help normal (non-cancerous) cells to grow.

The Science Bit

There are around 200 species of Aloe plant but the one we are most interested in is Aloe Barbadensis Miller, also known as ‘true Aloe.’ It contains polysaccharides that work as moisturisers, keeping the skin hydrated. When absorbed into the skin, they also stimulate the fibroblasts (a type of cell that maintains a structural framework in many tissues) to replicate themselves faster.

The juice from this type of Aloe contains many health-giving components and has several measurable effects on the body such as faster movement of food through the bowels and improved protein digestion and absorption.