Benefits of Aloe Vera as a Dietary Supplement

Almost all know the benefits of the herbal medicine plant Aloe Vera when applied to the outside of our body. However, this plant does not just make miracles on our outside but including the inside of our body! Such a remarkable plant it is!

Aloe is a member of the lily family although it looks more of a cactus. It has been used for its medicinal purposes since the ancient times, but only recently has it enjoyed a rediscovery and subsequent popularity explosion. Aloe Vera contains many components, including vitamins A, B, C, and E. Aloe has a massive amount of minerals and enzymes, however not its entire component has been identified yet.

Aloe Vera is also known as the "lily of the desert" or most specially the "medicine plant". This plant is native to Africa. The plant is approximately 96% water and 4% of it includes amino acids, minerals, vitamins, enzymes, essential oil, and glycoproteins.

When taken orally, Aloe Vera juice contains three anti-inflammatory fatty acids. This is a help to our stomach, intestine, and colon. It aids most specially, bowel diseases, candida ulcers, intestinal infections, constipation, and other digestive tract infection such as colitis,

When taking Aloe Vera as a supplement, always choose the supplement with the highest quality. The label should say that it is 80 to 100 percent Aloe Vera. This is true to lotions that claim it contains Aloe Vera when in fact it contains very little amount of aloe and have no health benefits.

Aloe Vera dietary supplement is now rising in our market. Aloe Vera contains a large amount of medicinal substances used as purgative. The medicinal substance id produced from various species of aloe, such as Aloe Vera, Aloe vulgaris, Aloe socotrina, Aloe chinensis, and Aloe perryi.

Several kinds of aloe are commercially available such as the Barbados, Socotrine, Hepatic, Indian, and Cape aloes. Barbados and Socotrine are the varieties most commonly used for curative purposes.

Aloes is the expressed juice of the leaves of the plant. When the leaves are cut, the juice that flows out are collected and evaporated. After removing the juice, you need to boil the leaves for sometime to avoid yielding an inferior kind of aloe. However, some leaves of other Aloe Vera species are poisonous such as Aloe venenosa.

Aloe has been marketed for having a large number of benefits when taken internally. Aloe have formula that are known remedy for coughs, wounds, ulcers, gastritis, diabetes, cancer, headaches, arthritis, immune system deficiencies and many health conditions. However, these uses are still not yet proven.

The only proven use of aloe when taken internally is as laxative. However, there is evidence of significant adverse side effects. Therefore, you must consult your doctor if you plan to take Aloe Vera. Pregnant women should not take this, because it contains anthraquinone glycosides, which is highly purgative. High dose of the leaves in fact can cause vomiting.

Aloe