Aloe Vera - History Use and Benefits

Written by Samantha Munro


Continued from page 1

Aloe Vera is often claimed to berepparttar “miracle plant” and it can be difficult to filter outrepparttar 114614 truth fromrepparttar 114615 hype. It is well established that Aloe Vera has some remarkable properties, many of which are being subjected to medical and scientific scrutiny.

The most famous property is for use on burns, and Aloe Vera used to be known asrepparttar 114616 ‘burn plant’. It is no longer necessary to keep an Aloe Vera plant handy for when you catch your hand onrepparttar 114617 oven door, these days Aloe Vera Gel comes in handy tubes.

A two year trial is underway atrepparttar 114618 Neath, Morriston and Singleton hospitals in Swansea for use of Aloe Vera in treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). A clinical trial involving 44 patients suffering from Ulcerative Colitis has been completed atrepparttar 114619 Royal London Hospital andrepparttar 114620 John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. The trial was completed in January 2004 and an improvement found in 38% of Patients given Aloe Vera gel as opposed to 8% given a placebo.

Others have reported benefits of Aloe Vera in treating Eczema and Psoriarsis, and a product called Aloe Propolis Crème is favoured by many for these conditions.

Aloe Vera is not however a substitute for medical treatment or therapy, and should be discussed with your Doctor or Health Professional if you are already receiving treatment.

Aloe Vera has a bitter taste which can be unpleasant inrepparttar 114621 raw state. It is possible to get used torepparttar 114622 taste of plain Aloe Vera gel, but if you can'trepparttar 114623 addition of some fruit juice helps to make it more palatable.

Many preparations are available that purport to provide Aloe Vera in tablet or capsule form. It is unlikely that many ofrepparttar 114624 delicate beneficial components will have survivedrepparttar 114625 manufacturing process, and these products often contain so little Aloe Vera as to be of dubious benefit. A study 10 years ago found that less than 1% of Aloe Vera preparations contained acceptable quantities of Aloe Vera Gel. One product achieved notoriety for actually having no measurable Aloe Vera content.

There is much confusion between Aloe Vera Gel and Aloe Vera Juice withrepparttar 114626 two often being thought synonymous. The term Gel refers torepparttar 114627 inner leaf only, whereas Juice refers to “Aloe Latex” a bitter substance found just underrepparttar 114628 skin ofrepparttar 114629 leaf. Leading authorities on Aloe Vera maintain that only Aloe Vera gel as fresh as preservation allows fromrepparttar 114630 inner leaf has any remarkable properties.

Some products are made from re-constituted freeze dried Aloe Vera. It seems unlikely that all of its beneficial components will have survived freeze drying, and it is of course possible forrepparttar 114631 less scrupulous to add more water back than was taken out to make it go further. Natural Aloe Vera Gel should be cloudy with fragments of pulp in it. Ifrepparttar 114632 product is crystal clear then carbon filtration has probably been used which can filter out much of what is good.

Another argument that rages on isrepparttar 114633 difference of opinion between those promoting so-called "whole leaf" Aloe Vera and those who only userepparttar 114634 inner gel. It is well established thatrepparttar 114635 inner gel contains most ofrepparttar 114636 beneficial parts ofrepparttar 114637 plant and little ofrepparttar 114638 less beneficial. Those who promote products based onrepparttar 114639 inner gel alone maintain that their product is as close to "straight fromrepparttar 114640 plant" asrepparttar 114641 preservation process allows.

The promoters of "whole leaf" Aloe Vera maintain that as they use allrepparttar 114642 leaf, their product must be more abundant inrepparttar 114643 good properties of Aloe Vera. However,repparttar 114644 components most likely to destroyrepparttar 114645 poly-saccharides (thought to give Aloe Vera its renowned properties) - cellulose and bacteria are present in Aloe Vera leaves just underrepparttar 114646 rind or onrepparttar 114647 surface ofrepparttar 114648 leaf. Certainly "whole leaf" manufacturers use carbon filtration or other techniques to filter outrepparttar 114649 impurities inrepparttar 114650 liquidised whole leaf and these are thought to also filter out many ofrepparttar 114651 beneficial constituents.

With so much variation inrepparttar 114652 market, maintainingrepparttar 114653 quality of Aloe Vera is key to retaining Consumer confidence. There are four key tests of Quality: The Official IASC (International Aloe Science Council) seal onrepparttar 114654 package or product container; That Stabilised Aloe Vera gel is listed asrepparttar 114655 FIRST ingredient onrepparttar 114656 contents list, and beware of products that state "aqua" (Water) asrepparttar 114657 first ingredient as this almost certainly means thatrepparttar 114658 contents is re-constituted powder; Thatrepparttar 114659 gel is sold in a sealed container that preservesrepparttar 114660 integrity ofrepparttar 114661 contents; Thatrepparttar 114662 product has at least a 30 day satisfaction guarantee.

Information for Publishers You may publish this article, but only if credit is given to Aloe Health UK andrepparttar 114663 web address is included as http://www.aloehealthuk.com

Samantha runs a business supplying skin care, health and beauty products based on Aloe Vera. To visit her web site go to http://www.aloehealthuk.com


Cherries - The Supercharged Fruit

Written by Tony Anderson


Continued from page 1

In addition torepparttar health benefits offered by cherries, many people are just eatingrepparttar 114613 fruit forrepparttar 114614 taste. John Simms, a life-long resident of Indianapolis, Indiana, eats cherries forrepparttar 114615 convenience and taste. “As a short-haul truck driver, my diet isn’trepparttar 114616 best, I would eat fast food every day. A year ago, my wife bought some dried cherries and I began eating them to keep my weight down. Now I eat a handful of cherries instead of eating fast food.”

Not only are cherries a great way to maintain a healthy body they are a natural product. According to Andrew LaPointe, Director of Marketing for Traverse Bay Farms, www.traversebayfarms.com “many of our customers are looking to eat healthier and fruit products fit this trend. It’s certainly better than fast food.” Traverse Bay Farms sells Fruit Advantage Tart Cherry capsules and cherry juice concentrate.

Tony Anderson is a freelance writer.


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