About Aloe Benefits

The Aloe family of plants includes over 200 varieties. Of these, it is the Aloe Barbadensis Miller (Aloe Vera) that has been of the most use to man.

A succulent plant with thick fleshy leaves which conceal an inner gel, it has been used for centuries to maintain health and enhance beauty. Flourishing in warm, dry climates, both the Greeks and the Egyptians valued it highly.

The Aloe plant is known around the world for its medicinal uses. It looks like a cactus, but is actually classified as an herb. It is similar to a cactus, however, in that it has a thick rind on the outside, and the inside is made of mostly water. It is believed that it has been used for medical reasons in just about every civilization, dated back as far as 2200 b.c. Although it is widely used, no one can quite explain the wonderment of this medicinal plant.

Aloe contains twenty minerals, twelve vitamins, 20 amino acids, and over 200 active enzymes and polysaccharides that the body needs for health and well-being. All of these things contribute to the value of the plant, and make it very good for the human body.

Medically speaking, Aloe has been known to help treat skin infections, cuts, and burns. It has also been used effectively in treating asthma, arthritis, gingivitis, constipation, muscle strains, bronchitis, obesity, anemia, insomnia, depression, and even for controlling the side effects of chemotherapy, diabetes, hepatitis, and multiple sclerosis. It has been known to help lower cholesterol levels. The use of Aloe is recommended for treating and controlling acne. It is also recommended to take aloe internally before long trips to help prevent dehydration.

Aloe gel is often thought as having one specific function: cooling and helping to heal sunburns. In fact, Aloe is an amazing plant with a wide ability to aid in the healing process, to protect, moisturize, and even extend life. It was used in ancient times for medicinal purposes, and its relevancy has not diminished today. Aloe's usefulness continues to grow as scientists study its properties and possible applications.

We are the world's largest growers and producers of Aloe and have a patented stabilisation process, ensuring our aloe is essentially identical to the inner leaf gel. Freshness is therefore assured. Our aloe is also free from herbicides, pesticides, pasteurisation, freeze-drying and heat treatment.

The key to our success is that we don't simply add a few drops of Aloe to our products, we start with 100% inner gel and add just enough other ingredients as needed. Poor diet, stress, caffeine, over-processed foods etc. can all lead to less than tip-top health. Aloe, with its wealth of essential nutrients can help redress the balance.

Aloe Benefits

Our pure Aloe drinks are probably the best daily tonic known to man. They are meticulously tested to assure you of consistent effective benefits. Our Aloe Gel is being clinically trialled at Morriston Hospital, Swansea in the treatment of IBS.

The Aloe plant (also called Aloe barbadensis) is unique among plants for its importance in the cosmetics industry. Cosmetic products made with aloe vera are used to treat everything from dry and scaly skin to chapped lips and dermatitis.

Top 10 Reasons to Drink Aloe Gel

Dr Peter Atherton MB ChB, DObst RCOG, FRCGP & Advisory Board Member

Reasons to Drink Aloe Gel and Juice

Imagine slicing open an Aloe leaf and consuming the Gel directly from the plant. Forever’s signature product, Aloe Gel, is as close to the real thing as you can get. The first of its kind to receive certification by the International Aloe Science Council, this rich blend of pulp and liquid gives us a product as near to nature as possible. The proof is in the Aloe - after reading my top 10 reasons why I think you should drink Aloe Gel, you will definitely see why Aloe has earned the nickname 'the medicine plant'.

1. A general tonic for good health

By drinking the Aloe Gel with all its important ingredients (often now deficient in our 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 wellbeing which tends to go with an improved ability to withstand and even fight illness.

As you can see from these 10 great reasons, taken daily - either alone or mixed with fruit juice or our other wonderful antioxidant product Pomesteen Power - Aloe Gel is one of the best nutritional supplements available!

2. A useful source of vitamins

Aloe 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 Gel while at the same time building up the body’s defence system against oxidative stress naturally?

3. A useful source of minerals

Some of the minerals found in Aloe 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 them and deliver them to us in a very available form.

4. Anti-inflammatory and pain killing effect

Among the substances that have been identified in Aloe are several that are anti-inflammatory and pain killing which are very helpful for people experiencing these symptoms.

5. Antiviral activity

Within the mucilage layer of the leaf which surrounds the inner gel there is a long chain sugar or polysaccharide. This has the capability of being able to help defend us against attacks by various viruses from the simple ones causing every day illnesses to the more complex ones. This sugar has actually been extracted from Aloe in the USA and made into a drug but it is actually not necessary to extract the magic bullet. Drinking the Gel is just as effective.

6. Increases the activity of fibroblasts

Fibroblasts are specialised cells found in the skin and 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. This is fine from a cosmetic point of view but they are also extremely important in wound healing, as these fibres create a mesh or network over which the new skin cells advance to close the wound. The effect of Aloe is to stimulate them to reproduce faster and therefore, being more of them, they make more fibre. The time taken for wounds to heal under the influence of Aloe can be reduced by up to a third.

7. 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 Gel provides the essential nutrition to feed the basal cells and therefore the skin remains healthy and is able to perform its vital functions more efficiently - as well as looking much better!

8. Effect on gut flora

Aloe is a natural balancer in many areas and nowhere more so than inside the gut where it tends to regulate the proportion of bacteria and yeasts that inhabit it. At various times in life people can develop an imbalance through a variety of causes which can lead to problems and, as with probiotics, Aloe may often help to normalise the situation.

9. 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 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.

10. Effect on the gut

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