Aloe for the Win!

Aloe for the Win

Not Feeling Well? Could it be Food Intolerance or Allergy? Have you been feeling tired, and don't have a reason? Weight gain from out of nowhere? Allergic symptoms often develop from overexposure to the same food over a long period of time.

When you are sensitive to a particular food, your immune system puts up a fuss, producing such symptoms as rashes, nasal stuffiness or a tummy ache.  Food sensitivities may be a relatively recent phenomenon, some experts say.  That’s because eating food grown and manufactured thousands of miles away from your community is not good for our body systems.

According to a classic work by a leading expert on allergies, an allergic reaction to food may cause the body to retain as much as 4 percent of its body weight in edema fluid (Basics of Food Allergy, Charles C. Thomas, 1978).  When we continually keep eating foods that cause problems, we set ourselves up to overload our immune systems---our body’s protective mechanism.  As the immune system breaks down, we get more and more problems.  Doctors often don’t diagnose or even know much about food allergies.  However, natural health care professionals know how common the problem is.  And it can be easily addressed.

There are diseases or disorders known or believed to involve the immune system in a major way.  The most obvious of these are allergies.  On the face of it, the last thing that the immune system might appear to need in such cases is stimulation, because the trouble appears to arise from an over-stimulated condition of the immune system in which the system attacks foods and environmental non-foods in an unnecessary and unproductive way.  However, allergies can be viewed as a misdirection of immune function.  Aloe juice (Mucilaginous Polysaccharides) may be found to put the immune system back into a balanced state of function, and to alleviate allergic conditions.  Once again, anecdotal evidence from alternative health care professionals and their patients already suggests that this is the case.

Extensive research since the 1930’s has shown that the clear gel of Aloe Vera or the “Burn Plant” as it has been called, has a dramatic ability to heal wounds, ulcers and burns by putting a protective coating on the affected areas and speeding up the healing rate.  The plant is about 96% water.  The rest of it contains active ingredients including essential oil, amino acids, minerals, vitamins, enzymes and glycoproteins.  Modern healers have used it since the 1930’s.  Many liquid health treatments are made, some combining aloe juice with other plants and herbs.  The juice is soothing to digestive tract irritations, such as Crohn’s, Colitis, GERDS and Peptic Ulcers.  Aloe Vera has long been recognized as a potent herbal remedy.

Aloe juice has been found to contain at least 6 antiseptic agents: Lupeaol, Salicylic Acid, Urea nitrogen, Cinnomonic acid, Phenols, and Sulphur.  All of these substances are recognized as antiseptics because they kill or control mold, bacteria, fungus, and viruses, explaining why the plant has the ability to eliminate many internal and external infections.  The Lupeol and salicylic acid in the juice explains why it is a very effective painkiller.  It also contains at least three anti-inflammatory fatty acids: cholesterol, Campestral and B-sitosterol (plant sterols), which explains why it is a highly effective treatment for burns, cuts, scrapes, abrasions, allergic reactions, rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatic fever, acid indigestion, ulcers, plus many inflammatory conditions of the digestive system and other internal organs, including the stomach, small intestine, colon, liver, kidney and pancreas.  B-sitosterol is also a powerful anti-cholestromatic which helps lower harmful cholesterol levels, helping to explain its many benefits for heart patients.  If you consider that aloe contains at least 23 polypeptides (immune stimulators), then we understand why aloe juice helps control a broad spectrum of immune system diseases and disorders, including HIVC and AIDS.  The polypeptides, plus the anti-tumor agents both aloe emodin and aloe lectins, explains its ability to control cancer.  The anti-inflammatory fatty acids are helpful for the stomach, small intestine and colon.  It naturally alkalizes digestive juices to prevent overacidity---a common cause of indigestion.  It helps cleanse the digestive tract by exerting a soothing, balancing effect.  A newly discovered compound in aloe, acemannan, is currently being studied for its ability to strengthen the body’s natural resistance.  Studies have shown acemannan to boost T-lymphocyte cells that aid the immune system.

Uses:  Throughout history aloe has been commonly mixed with water, milk, honey, and many other natural and synthetic substances, to make it easier to use and more palatable, with no loss of effectiveness.  Aloe vera juice can help reduce allergic tendencies.  For such a use, take three tablespoons daily in juice or water.  Or you can take gel capsules.  Both these items can be found at your local health food store.  Healing time frames have been as short as 90 days, but you will have to experiment as to your own situation and your body’s symptoms.