TIL: Aloe Vera is a super potent natural medicine! Not just for skin!

Aloe is one of those useful plants I've known about my entire life, but today I learned that it's actually an extremely potent medicinal plant.  It's actually so potent, that it really should only be used for the most part when it's needed, in short bursts rather than a constant part to the diet. It's full of over 200 active components including: vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, polysaccharides and fatty acids.  It's referred to as an adaptogen (a term I've never heard until today), which is a substance that aids in the bodies ability to adapt to new environments and stresses.  

Of the many vitamins it's known to have, some big ones are: A, C, E, Folic Acid, Choline, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12.  The presence of the B vitamins are what make aloe a great organic rooting gel, much cheaper and healthier than the stuff you can buy from the grow store.  As for the minerals, just to name a few it has: calcium, magnesium, selenium, sodium, iron, potassium, copper and manganese.  This can be used internally as a vitamin supplement, although I wouldn't do it every day, as it's known to be a laxative. If you're in need of a laxative, the sticky substance just below the skin is the latex layer. 

It's got a long list of health benefits that are at this point backed by science.  The gel is used in detox as it's known to absorb toxins as it travels through the body, suspending them in the gel to be expelled. It's been shown to help diabetics regulate blood sugar, enhancing sensitivity to insulins. Just about everyone knows that it helps with the healing of burns, especially sunburns, but I just learned it helps with canker sores and other sores in the mouth.

It's anti-bacterial which makes it a lot more useful for dental than I expected.  Apparently, aloe vera water has been shown to be just as effective as mouthwash in killing bacteria in clinical trials. It's been proven to reduce dental plaque as well. This is one thing you could do every day, as you aren't ingesting it.  It's really only the ingesting that can become a problem with aloe. 

It does more than just heal burns and sores, it has been known to increase skin health all around, as well as prevent wrinkles.  Thank you, vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes. 

We use it in the garden as a free organic hormone cloning gel for plants, and it works just as well as any product we've ever bought from the grow store.  We use it in our compost teas, sometimes, to add amino acids and enzymes. I've got fair skin, so it's always been a part of my life, especially here in Acapulco with my many sunburns I've sustained. 

Not all aloe is equal though, and my recent experiences gardening it have taught me that.  Aloe is made of what it eats, which is both a good thing and a bad thing.  This means that all the good stuff you put in your soil to make plants healthy, will be absorbed into the succulent leaves.  This also means that any chemicals applied to the plant or toxins found in the soil could be found in the plant.  What makes it super healthy could also be a big problem, so be careful where you source your aloe from if you've got a medical need to use it. The best way around this problem, is to steal and grow out your own aloe plant. Or ask a friend who has some for a start, if that's more your style.  Here aloe plants are everywhere, often easily in reach.  You could walk down the street and find it in a garden along the sidewalk, neglected and orange, taking a small plant is no huge crime against anyone. 

(ban hole)

There's a lot in my neighborhood that's private property, although just about no one respects that.  The people who own it keep saying they are going to build, but they haven't yet and they're barely there.  They come for a visit once in awhile, and pay people to chop the foliage but that's about it.  People aren't disrespectful in terms of littering and vandalism, but they are known to go get drunk with the view regardless of the Private Property sign recently posted at the entrance.  

I've explored this lot many times, as it's got an interesting wood stove and an abundance of tropical plants and fruits.  The picture above is an area of that lot where banana trees grow, and the small ones are harvested by people in the neighborhood for their own gardens. This is where I came to steal an aloe plant a few months ago, and where I come again to show you how to steal/plant aloe.  

Find an aloe patch first, like this one.  Aloe always has this basic look and structure, although color can differ based on soil type.  Aloe grows in clusters, with little plants coming out of the bottom as it spreads further and further.  It grows ALL over here, although it's generally a weird orange color due to the soil.  Lack of water exaggerates the effect, making the plants seem orange.  I didn't immediately identify it when I moved here, as I didn't expect aloe to be orange.

It was hard to get a good photo, as we've just left the wet season here.  The orange is only apparent in the gel now, and gives you a slightly orange tint to your skin when applied.

Once you've located an aloe patch, it's time to look at the bottom of it around the edges, for a small plant to take. 

It shouldn't be terribly large, especially if you're taking it without permission, but just choose a small easily separateable bunch around the edge, and pull it out of the ground.

This is what you should have when you do, just a small plant with a small amount of roots attached to it. 

Get some good, fluffy dark brown soil and plant the aloe in the container.  Water it and leave it be, after awhile the orange tint of the gel will go away and the plant will grow much bigger.

Here's the plant I got today, off to go sit by it's big brother.

When I picked this plant out of that lot almost 5 months ago, it was orange tinted, through and through.  Within just a few weeks the plant turned green, which confirmed our suspicions that the soil was the cause of the color.

This is a piece of that older plant, today,  showing it's clear gel.  It's got good organic soil and clean water, making it great for our home uses.  

My sources online advised against constant use and I will too.  It seems like an extremely powerful medicine, one to hold until it's needed which is when it'll be most effective.  Like I mentioned previously, I'm only referring to ingesting it with this, apply as much as you need to your skin, although applying too much of anything to your skin is no good.  It gets addicted to the supplemented moisture and stops producing it's own. 

Next time you have digestive upset, try drinking a little aloe water as it's supposed to help that.  Use it on burns, cuts and sunburns for faster with less pain.  As life throws sickness at you, see if some aloe can help.  If not, I know there's a medicinal plant out there you can give a try.  These aren't just old wives tales anymore, science is backing up the validity of using plants as medicine.