What are the Health Benefits of Aloe Vera?

Most of us know aloe for it benefits on the skin, but did you know that is has fantastic benefits on the inside too. That is because our insides are also covered with skin, albeit a little different in look and feel.  It is also beneficial for problems of the digestive, immune and joint systems.

Choosing the right Aloe Vera to drink is also key to these benefits.  The Barbadensis Miller or true aloe, made from the inner leaf gel, is the one with the most nutritional value.

So why would you drink Aloe Vera?

Here are the top 10 reasons to drink Aloe Vera written by Dr Peter Atherton.

1. Effect on the gut

Aloe Vera has a wonderfully beneficial action on bowel function which results in smooth and efficient transit of contents, often eradicating inconvenient colicky pain.

2. Assists in healthy digestion

A healthy digestive tract ensures that nutrients from the food we eat are absorbed into the bloodstream. There is clear, clinical evidence that by drinking Aloe Vera Gel the bowel is able to absorb these nutrients more efficiently, especially protein. I also suspect that many other substances are much better absorbed under its influence.

3. Effect on gut flora

Aloe Vera is a natural 'balancer' in many areas and nowhere more so than inside the gut, where it tends to regulate the various bacteria and yeasts that inhabit it. For example, if a person were to suffer with too much yeast in the gut, regular ingestion of the gel would tend to reduce this overgrowth. The same can be said of the more unfriendly bacteria that can accumulate in certain conditions.

4. Effect on the skin

When they are first produced deep in the epidermis, skin cells are rather large and very much alive, but by the time they reach the surface after 21-28 days (in normal skin), they are a shadow of their former selves and are transformed into just thin flakes of keratin which eventually fall off. Aloe Vera Gel provides the essential nutrition to feed the basal cells. Therefore the skin remains healthy and is able to perform its vital functions more efficiently - as well as looking much better!

5. Increases the activity of fibroblasts

Fibroblasts are specialised cells found in the skin. Their job is to produce fibre such as collagen and elastin. These fibres give the skin its structure and of course, make it look plump and elastic. The more you have, the younger your skin may look.

6. Antiviral activity

Within the mucilage layer of the leaf which surrounds the inner gel, there is a long chain of sugar or polysaccharide. This has the capability of being able to help us defend against attacks by various viruses, from the common cold to the more nasty viruses and could even help balance your immune system.

7. Anti-inflammatory and painkilling effect

Among the substances that have been identified in Aloe Vera are several that are naturally anti-inflammatory and painkilling. People who take it regularly often find that inflammatory conditions are greatly benefited.

8. A useful source of minerals

Some of the minerals found in Aloe Vera include calcium, sodium, potassium, iron, chromium, magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc. This is because the plant tends to grow in areas where soils are rich in these minerals and its roots are able to absorb and deliver them to us in a very available form.

9. A useful source of vitamins

Aloe Vera Gel contains a large range of vitamins - even trace elements of vitamin B12 which is rarely found in plants. Apart from vitamin A, it contains B-group vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E and folic acid. Many of these vitamins cannot be stored by the body so we need to constantly top them up from the food that we eat. What better way than by drinking a daily amount of Aloe Vera Gel while at the same time building up the body's defence system against oxidative stress naturally?

10. A general tonic for good health

By drinking the Aloe Vera Gel with all its important ingredients (often now deficient in food) including 19 of the 20 amino acids needed by the human body and seven of the eight essential ones that just cannot be made, the body is able to get enough to allow complex enzyme systems to work really well. This means the body can function at 100%. The net result to the individual is a wonderful feeling of well being. As you can see from these 10 great reasons, taken daily Aloe Vera Gel is one of the best nutritional supplements available!

Written by: Nina Hill 

Ensure that you benefit from the best Quantity and Quality when choosing your aloe vera products.  

For more information contact 071 026 1454 or ninahill@flp.com

BULLYING IN SCHOOLS:

TREAT THE CAUSE NOT THE SYMPTOM

Why do we seem to not be able to eradicate bullying from schools? 

The answer is simple. We have been treating the symptoms and not the cause. We want to put a plaster on incidents and hope it heals instead of delving deeper and asking why did this happen in the first place. It has now been over a year that I have been visiting schools, doing talks and having discussions with smaller groups.  It becomes clearer to me daily; we are going about this problem all wrong. Currently we are identifying the bully, labeling him/her as the bully and punishing the bully.  We are doing the same for the victim.  Creating labels creates expectation.  

Look at clothing labels; we “expect” certain things from certain labels. No different from a bully carrying the label of “bully”. We forget the bully carries two labels, that of victim and bully.  There is not a single bully who has not been a victim. It is this protection against more pain that makes the victim take their anger and frustration out on others, adding to themselves the label of “bully”.

Being a bully is someone who chose to put on a mask, living a life of pretense.  

Pretending you have no fear, pretending to be the most confident kid in the school, while the person behind the mask lives in fear and has zero self confidence and worth. 

In group sessions I get the bullies to remove these masks, creating a safe space where they can share their stories and allow themselves to be vulnerable. I push the bully into a corner, in a gentle manner; he knows he is now exposed as someone wearing a mask and also just a victim trying to protect himself by using aggression.  They are forced to remove the mask, and face the pain. I help them deal with their trauma and give them tools on how to move forward having a label they need to lose as everyone still knows them as a bully.

Often bullies are victims of trauma outside the school. 

We live in a broken world, yet we expect our kids to act like angels and be “normal”.  Sadly “normal” to many kids are seeing horrifying images on television, going to sleep with the sounds of gunshots, hearing family members argue about money and survival and the list goes on.  Kids grow up with a sense of having to protect themselves.  No-one else will, so they put on a balaclava of protection, a mask.  They hide their pain and hurt others to feel a sense of control.

Until we look at solving the problem of bullying by labeling and punishing labels, we will never solve this problem.

Constant encouragement and support to victims to become survivors is the answer.

It is hard to have sympathy with a bully. Instinct makes us want to hate the aggressor but we need to understand why the aggressor is acting out, to solve the problem of bullying.

We have all added to this messed up society we find ourselves in, whether it be through accepting the lie on the front page of a magazine and believing that is what we should be, or whether we all strive to buy the same car to impress others, but we cannot expect the youth to know any better if we do not guide them.

Personally I feel schools need to focus more on counselling in these times we live in. Kids are left to find their own coping skills and due to lack of life experience, often make the wrong choices.  We need to allow kids to remove their masks and find their own authenticity.  

If you find what makes you different from everyone else, don’t ever change. 

Written by: Liesl Schoonraad