Aloe Vera, often called the Miracle Plant, the Natural Healer, the Burn Plant, goes by many names which have survived the 4000 or so years during which this amazing medicinal herb has benefited mankind.

George Ebers in 1862 first discovered its antiquity in an ancient Egyptian papyrus, dated 3500 BC, which was in fact a collection of herbal remedies. Other researchers have since found it was used by both the ancient Chinese and Indian cultures. Greek physicians such as Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder used it to great affect, and legend suggests that Aristotle convinced Alexander the Great to capture the Island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean to get its rich supply of Aloe to heal his wounded soldiers. The Egyptian queens Nefertiti and Cleopatra rated it highly as a beauty therapy.

Although there are over 200 species of Aloe, there are probably only four or five with medicinal properties. Of this Aloe Barbadensis Miller, (also known as Aloe linnet), is the most potent. It is the only one entitled to be known as aloe vera or the true aloe.

Aloe Vera is a succulent, looking rather like a catcus but as described earlier it is infact a member of the Lilly family related to onions and garlic. When mature the contents of its leaves, a mixture of inner gel and outer sap can be harvested, preserved and bottled to produce a product that is as near the natural plant juice as we can get.

The benefit from Aloe Vera, the gel can be taken internally for itsnutritional effect or it can be a combination with other ingredients to produce topical creams and lotions to nourish and improve the quality of the skin.

Note: For a product to work properly, Aloe Vera needs to be the principal ingredient.

Always look for a product with a substantial Aloe Vera content.

• Vitamins - it contains a wide range, but the most important ones are the antioxidant Vitamins C and E and Beta-Carotene, the precursor of Vitamin A, it is also one of the few plants in the world to contain Vitamin B12
• Minerals - These include magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper, chromium, calcium, sodium, potassium and iron.
• Amino Acids - The human body requires 20 amino acids, the building blocks of proteins and Aloe Vera gel provides 19 of them. More importantly, it provides seven of the eight essential amino acids that cannot be manufactured by the body and which therefore have to be consumed as food.
• Sugars - These include the important long chain polysaccharides which act on the immune system to boost its effects.
• Enzymes - Lipases and Proteases which break down food and aid digestion as well as a Carboxypeptidase that is involved in the inflammatory process.
• Plant Sterols - The three main types act as powerful anti-inflammatory agents.
• Saponins - These are soapy substances that exert a powerful anti-microbial effect against bacteria, viruses, fungi and yeasts such as candida or “thrush”.
• Lignin - This woody substance bestows on Aloe Vera its penetrative ability to reach deep into the skin.
• Anthraquinones - The most important ones being Aloin and Emodin, but altogether they are strong painkillers and are acknowledged to possess anti-bacterial and viricidal activity, in their pure form, they are very powerful laxatives.
• Salycylic Acid - This aspirin-like compound is anti-inflammatory and topically helps to break down dead tissue.

Its natural anti-inflammatory and anti-micobial action combined within the nutritional constituents promote cell growth and therefore healing . However, it is not only helpful for people with problems: most people taking it report greater sense of well being- they feel ‘ better’ or they report feeling calmer and less anxious. It is believed that aloe’s second effect on the immune system which may say becomes balanced or fine tuned helping the body.