Aloe: a summer must-have & so much more

Better Nutrition, July, 1998 by James F. Scheer

Folic acid, combined with vitamin B-6, is reported to prevent a buildup of homocysteine, the most recently discovered contributor to cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Antioxidants. Vitamins C and E are two other critically important, free-radical fighting nutrients aloe supplies, along with other top antioxidants, including beta-carotene.

Triglycerides. Aloe's wealth of triglycerides supply fatty acids vitally important to good health, as they serve to carry fat-soluble vitamins throughout our billions of body cells.

Immunity support: the research

A paper by Lawrence G. Plaskett, a researcher in Cornwall, England, reveals how, in one study, aloe increased the resistance of mice to a killer bacterium, Klebsiella pneumoniae.

According to Plaskett, "Apparently, it [had this effect] not through any [action] of directly killing the bacterium -- no antibiotic effect -- but, rather, through positive effects on the performance of the animals' immune system." Other researchers have also found aloe to have dramatic effects in protecting against infections. Passwater cites the 15-plus years of aloe research conducted by Dr. Wendell Winters, associate professor of biology at the University of Texas Health Science Center.

One of the newest findings is that an ingredient in aloe causes cells to divide and multiply, enhancing the growth of white blood cells and other immune system cells that defend us.

Other immune-boosting possibilities

What about AIDS? One study indicates that aloe vera can markedly delay the death of patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Joan Priestley, M.D., administered aloe, along with other nutritional supplements, to AIDS patients, as described in the article "AIDS and Aloe Vera Extract" in Health Consciousness.

In most circumstances, when the T-cell count of these patients falls to 50, half of them die within nine months. However, when the T-cell count of Priestley's patients dropped to 50, half of them lived 18 months longer, and 30 percent lived two years longer than normally projected.

Back to aloe's basics

Not the least of aloe's assets are its anti-inflammatory and woundhealing functions, which were the first to draw attention to this plant.

Burns. One of the most admirable uses for this plant's gel in recent times has been for healing nuclear radiation burns. This so impressed researchers that it led to their investigation of aloe for other medicinal purposes. Your standard, painful-to-the-touch sunburn is an ideal use for aloe, as well, making it a "summer must-have."

Skin problems. One such explored purpose was using aloe for the skin disease psoriasis, characterized by red patches covered with silvery scales. In a doubleblind, placebo-controlled study of 30 psoriasis patients, mentioned by Hale in our conversation, aloe applications cured 25. The placebo was able to help only two out of 30.

Cholesterol and digestive tract disorders. Researcher I. Tizard, et al., as reported in the journal, Molecular Biology, found that, taken orally, the complex sugar, mannans (derived from aloe), blocked cholesterol absorption. For other internal uses, various biochemists theorize that aloe gel plus water may help heal digestive tract irritations, such as colitis and peptic ulcers.