Aloe Vera - Just a Plant? THIS WEEK IN THE HSI HEALTHIER TALK COMMUNITY Aloe vera plants are truly nutrient dense - loaded with vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids, and other healthy components. Here's what HSI members are saying about aloe in the Healthier Talk community forums. Roseelian: "Other than using cut aloe leaves for sunburns or cuts is there a way to process these leaves at home so that the gel/juice can be used as a nutrient supplement? I see that these products are available commercially but I have several prolific plants and would like to make more use of them for their health benefits." ralph: "Find a way to strip the outer shell of the leaves off and only use the inside. It is my understanding that this was used very successfully on ulcers." naturalway: "You can simply just cut the leaves open and squeeze the gel out and then mix it in a drink and take it. The yellow liquid on the outside of the gel has powerful laxative effects, so if you don't want that you'll need to wash that off. (The yellow liquid also causes a red stain on things, so take care.)" Pinky: "Aloe is a great Alkalizing food. As are fresh tomatoes, Avocadoes, cucumbers and broccoli." Cedarchest: "Aloe has blood purifying effects, as well. I've been using it for several years because I used to be very prone to boils. If I drink 4 oz. of aloe gel or juice (I prefer the gel, actually) every day, I don't get boils. If I try to slack off, within a month I have a boil.
I don't know why this works, but it does." bifrost99: "I think the main impact of aloe gel is the mannose, which has a really strong immune stimulating/balancing effect, even in very dilute amounts. It only has to act on a few macrophages/monocytes and the immune system gets going." Dr. H.F. Wombat: "A personal experience with aloe vera. During my student days I was working at a service station. A lady came in and asked me to check all her car's fluids. When I saw that the overflow container for the radiator coolant was dry I opened the radiator. You can guess. There was an explosion of steam and coolant and I got the full load onto my chest. I went home with an ice bag under my shirt, jumped into the pool and stayed until the pain was gone. Covered the entire area with aloe vera gel, kept renewing this and in a few days there was no evidence I had ever been burned." Lianna: "In something similar to Wombat's experience, I spent way too many hours at the beach one day, back in college, and got the worst sunburn of my life. I was actually purple. My mom took one look at me and decided to sacrifice several of her largest aloe plants to treat the burn. She…plastered me from head to toe with fresh aloe juice. She got up several times during the night to reapply fresh juice to my face, shoulders and chest. When I woke up in the AM, the pain was almost gone and the sunburn had faded to a light pink. I peeled a little, but I didn't blister. Since then, I've kept a little garden of aloe plants for burns and rashes." Other topics being discussed this week in the Healthier Talk community forums include: - Allergies: Air purifier
- America's Country Doctor: Natural ways to use apple cider vinegar
- Cancer: Ultrasound may supplant biopsies
- General Health Topics: Fighting off a cold
- Depression/Mood: Food, supplements cure depression
- Heart: Red yeast rice
You can easily reach the HSI Healthier Talk community forums on our web site. Just choose "Forum," and join in with any of the dozens of discussions about nutrition and natural health care. | 
