Aloe Vera Gardening in Spain.

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ALOE VERA
Nature's Portable First aid Kit

Back when I was in my 20's I spent a year living in the Mexican city of Guanajuato.  It was there, after a very unfortunate incident with a gas water heater and a naked flame, that I ended up in a hospital emergency room with the top layer of skin burnt off my face and neck.  The doctor that treated me didn't seem too concerned, he simply handed me one of the small spiky plants that were growing in pots around the department with instructions to smear the gel inside the leaves over my face for the next week.  It worked, within five days my burnt skin was completely healed without a single scar and there began my love affair with the truly wondrous aloe vera plant.

All of us heard how effective aloe vera gel is in the treatment of sunburn, in fact, most people think that is all it is good for.  In reality though aloe vera is useful for both external and internal use and can indeed be considered a super food.  All you need do is snap off a leaf, remove the skin to reveal the jelly like interior and chop it into water or fruit juice, whizz it into smoothies, mix it with yoghurt.......It's not the tastiest thing in the world but the health benefits it offers make up for that.

The aloe vera plant grows abundantly in this area of Spain.  It is antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal, and is well known by herbalists.  It's common sense really, if aloe vera gel wasn't antibacterial every little tear or scrape of the plant would result in the entire thing being eaten up by bacteria.  Aloe needs to be antibacterial simply to survive in the wild or its moist, nutrient rich gel would provide a perfect breeding ground for invading bacteria.

Analysis of the plant shows that aloe vera gel contains:
Water
20 minerals
12 vitamins
18 amino acids
200 active plant compounds (phytonutrients), including:
Enzymes
Triterpenes (a phytonutrient that lowers blood sugar)
Glyconutrients & glycoproteins
Polysaccharides, including:
Acemannan, mannose-6-phosphate polymannans
Phenolic glycosides, including:
Dihydrocoumarins

Aloe Vera Benefits

There are actually so many health benefits to using aloe vera gel that I can only go into a few of them in this article.  Let's start with the external, topical use of it on the skin.

I personally think that we should all throw out our standard first aid kits with all those silly toxic antibacterial sprays, creams, lotions and bandages and simply replace them with aloe vera plants.  I've been known to pack small chunks of aloe vera gel inside wounds that have healed in just a few days with zero scaring.

As the aloe gel dries it contracts and draws the wound shut while attracting an increased flow of blood to the wound which accelerates healing.  At the same time the aloe vera gel kills bacterial, prevents infection and also provides nourishment to the wound tissue.  I use it regularly on my dogs and cats, if they lick the wound they're not licking all those harmful toxic chemicals found in most first aid products and it's so easy and cheap to re-apply.  Why on earth would anyone consider smearing wounds and injuries with toxic antibacterial creams and sprays?  Whenever I go hiking in the mountains I take a leaf of aloe with me.  It treats cuts, scrapes, burns, bites, stings, punctures, sprains, sunburns and even bruises.  And as an added bonus if you ever find yourself stranded and dying of thirst you can eat the gel for its water content.

There are so many Health Benefits to using aloe vera gel.............

Another interesting use of aloe vera is in its effective treatment of gum disease.  You can either rub the gel directly onto your gum line or take the gel mixed with water as a mouthwash.  It's fantastic for mouth ulcers too and don't forget you can drink it as well.  By doing so you'll be bathing your gums in healing aloe gel and any bleeding, swollen or painful areas you have will begin to heal rapidly.  Even severe cases of gum disease can be completely cured in a matter of weeks.
So forget about all those chemically flavoured, blow your head off mouth washes.  Bathe and nourish your gums and general oral area with aloe gel.  You'll not only benefit your gums and oral hygiene but you'll be cutting down on your body's general chemical load which is always a good thing!

So, go on, invest in a couple of aloe vera plants, they grow easily in this climate and you'll have your own perfect little, portable first aid kit growing right at your fingertips.  More to come on the super healing powers of aloe vera in future articles.  Happy natural healing everyone!

Where to learn more

Wikipedia page on aloe vera:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloe_vera

Brief history of aloe vera at:
http://www.qni.com/~gic/herb/aloevera.htm

The above is a Write-up in JUNGLE DRUMS Issue No. 82 April 2011

Aloe vera became so widely grown as a medicinal plant in ancient times that its exact region of origin is a mystery. This species is of considerable economic importance and extracts are included in all manner of pharmaceutical preparations for the skin, treatment of burns and for ingestion. It is important to use the correct species of Aloe for medicinal preparations, as some species e.g. Aloe venenosa are poisonous. Toxic reactions by sensitive individuals to Aloe barbadensis (Aloe vera) have been reported, despite its widespread, mainly safe use.

Above: June 2008,   RHS Wisley.

Aloe vera  Burman fil. 1768 Synonyms: A. barbadensis, A. officinalis (Medicinal Aloe) This species has been so widely naturalised and grown as a medicinal plant that its exact region of origin is a mystery. However, it's origin was probably within the Arabian peninsula. Aloe vera is probably the best known Aloe and is of considerable economic importance. Extracts of the gel from the center of the leaves are included in all manner of pharmaceutical preparations for the skin, treatment of burns and for ingestion. However, some people have allergic reactions to substances in the yellow sap under the epidermis.   The large (2 ft) blue-green, tapered, fleshy leaves forming a loose stemless rosette, have prominently toothed margins. The leaves of some clones are marked with white spots but this is a variable feature. The 2 - 3 ft inflorescence is a spike of golden-yellow tubular flowers. Some clones have   Aloe (especially aloe vera) has many uses & benefits. It... helps heal minor burns, cuts & rashes helps alleviate the pain of sunburn while speeding healing works as a skin moisturizer has anti-inflammatory properties Most people use aloe simply by cutting off a piece of leaf and squeezing the liquid onto their skin. This works, but it wastes the inner gel, which is the most potent part of the plant. To use the gel, you'll need to "fillet" the leaves rather than merely squeezing them. The filleting process also reaps much more aloe gel/juice. When properly prepared and refrigerated, this final product can last a year or more! First, a little terminology. Starting from the outside of the leaf and working inwards, we have the "rind", the "sap", the "mucilage" and lastly, the central core of "gel", also known as the "gel fillet". For home uses, the rind is only good for composting. The yellow sap (also called "aloin" or latex) should be avoided when possible. It's used as an ingredient in laxatives, and can cause diarrhea and other problems if taken internally. The mucilage and gel are the most important parts of the plant for home medicinal use. Aloe should be processed within a couple of hours of harvest so as to prevent oxidation.