Aloe vera and it's Basic Health Benefits

Often distinguished by it’s greenish-sharp cuspy edges with conserved jelly-like liquid. It has been used in alternative medicine for the treatment of many conditions.

Aloe vera gel is widely known to relieve sunburn and help heal wounds. But did you know that your favorite potted plant can be used for much more than sunburn relief and household decorations?.

Aloe vera is a popular medicinal plant that people have used for thousands of years.

Infact, it is best known for treating skin injuries, but it also has several other uses that could potentially benefit health.

This article will cover the six major benefits of aloe vera, so as to note how important it is to our health;

1. It enhances the skin;

Want a glowing skin? You can use aloe vera to keep your skin clear and hydrated.

This may be because the plant thrives in dry, unstable climates. To survive the harsh conditions, the plant’s leaves store water. These water-dense leaves, combined with special plant compounds called complex carbohydrates, make it an effective face moisturizer and pain reliever.

Study reviews also suggest that aloe vera could help the skin retain moisture and improve skin integrity, which could benefit dry skin conditions.

2. It Lowers your blood sugar;

We sure do know how bitter an also could taste like!. Ingesting two tablespoons of aloe vera juice per day can cause blood sugar levels to fall in people with type 2 diabetes, according to a study in Phytomedicine: This could mean that aloe vera may have a future in diabetes treatment.

These results were confirmed by another study in Phytotherapy Research that used pulp extract.

3. It accelerates wound healing.

People most often use aloe vera as a topical medication, rubbing it onto the skin rather than consuming it. In fact, it has a long history of use in treating sores, and particularly burns, including sunburn.

For example, a review found that aloe vera could reduce the healing time of burns by around 9 days compared with conventional medication.

It also helped prevent redness, itching, and infection.
to reduce the healing time of burns.

How does aloe vera fasten wound healing? Aloe vera contains glucomannan, a polysaccharide, and gibberellin, a growth hormone.

These works by interacting with growth factor receptors found on the fibroblast. As a result, the fibroblast’s proliferation is triggered, increasing collagen synthesis.

Hence, the process makes wound healing faster.

4. Potential to fight breast cancer (in women).

A new study published in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine looked at the therapeutic properties of aloe emodin, a compound in the plant’s leaves.

The authors suggest that the succulent shows potential in slowing the growth of breast cancer. However, more studies are needed to further advance this theory.

5. Anti-Inflammatory.

Aloe vera is an effective anti-inflammatory. It inhibits the cyclooxygenase pathway and decreases the prostaglandin E2 production from arachidonic acid.

Moreover, since inflammation is usually caused by oxidative damage due to free radicals, aloe vera acts as an antioxidant that fights free radicals.