Aloe Vera is often claimed to be “miracle plant” and it can be difficult to filter out truth from 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 as ‘burn plant’. It is no longer necessary to keep an Aloe Vera plant handy for when you catch your hand on oven door, these days Aloe Vera Gel comes in handy tubes.

A two year trial is underway at 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 at Royal London Hospital and 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 in raw state. It is possible to get used to taste of plain Aloe Vera gel, but if you can't 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 of delicate beneficial components will have survived 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 with two often being thought synonymous. The term Gel refers to inner leaf only, whereas Juice refers to “Aloe Latex” a bitter substance found just under skin of leaf. Leading authorities on Aloe Vera maintain that only Aloe Vera gel as fresh as preservation allows from 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 for 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. If 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 is difference of opinion between those promoting so-called "whole leaf" Aloe Vera and those who only use inner gel. It is well established that inner gel contains most of beneficial parts of plant and little of less beneficial. Those who promote products based on inner gel alone maintain that their product is as close to "straight from plant" as preservation process allows.

The promoters of "whole leaf" Aloe Vera maintain that as they use all leaf, their product must be more abundant in good properties of Aloe Vera. However, components most likely to destroy poly-saccharides (thought to give Aloe Vera its renowned properties) - cellulose and bacteria are present in Aloe Vera leaves just under rind or on surface of leaf. Certainly "whole leaf" manufacturers use carbon filtration or other techniques to filter out impurities in liquidised whole leaf and these are thought to also filter out many of beneficial constituents.

With so much variation in market, maintaining 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 on package or product container; That Stabilised Aloe Vera gel is listed as FIRST ingredient on contents list, and beware of products that state "aqua" (Water) as first ingredient as this almost certainly means that contents is re-constituted powder; That gel is sold in a sealed container that preserves integrity of contents; That 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 and web address is included as http://www.aloehealthuk.com

In addition to health benefits offered by cherries, many people are just eating fruit for taste. John Simms, a life-long resident of Indianapolis, Indiana, eats cherries for convenience and taste. “As a short-haul truck driver, my diet isn’t 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.