How does aloe vera work?

The plant aloe vera contains a complex mixture of molecules. The Handbook of Phytochemical Constituents of GRAS Herbs and Other Economic Plants by James A. Duke states that there are as much as 300 different types of molecules in aloe vera. Hardly surprising then that it has multiple effects on multiple tissue types. Unfortunately this broad spectrum of activity also fuels ‘academic’ scepticism because aloe vera does just too much to be true. To put that last criticism into perspective, even in Prescription Only Medication (POM) there is not just one thing any drug does. This is why we have monthly editions of MIMS and BNP to show, next to the indications of POMs, their contraindications, warnings, other drug interactions and adverse effects. POMs are as targeted molecules as a pharmaceutical company can make them, yet they affect so much. Imagine a plant with 300 different types of molecules, of course it is going to act broad spectrum. Aloe vera has been used by millions of people worldwide throughout the ages. Empirical evidence accumulated in accolades like ‘miracle plant’ and ‘burn plant’ but for academic validity such a sustained track record is said to be meaningless. But even in today’s climate of evidence based medicine (EBM) much of day to day healthcare is characterised by non evidence based practice, variation in practice, inadequate outcome data, inequality of access to optimal treatment and ultimately a lack of evidence base. (Virus Research, Volume 89, Issue 2, November 2002, Pages 175-181). Entrenched sceptics should note that lack of evidence of efficacy should not be confused with evidence of lack of efficacy. The former says that there is insufficient evidence to pass judgement. The latter says it does not work. Of course good aloe vera works. Quite beside that there is safety and validation in the numbers (millions of people) and in the length of time aloe vera has been used (centuries), there is a lot of good quality research on aloe vera as well as scientific knowledge about what its different type of molecules do. This said, how well an aloe vera product works depends entirely on its quantity of working molecules, the quality of them and purity of product. On all counts Aloeride® Aloe Vera is an exemplary product that stands head and shoulders above its competitors. So how does it work? Aloeride® Aloe Vera is mostly taken by mouth but can also be applied to the skin. When taken by mouth, in the fluid environment of the stomach, the Aloeride® Aloe Vera capsules dissolve within 1 or 2 minutes giving our powder plenty of time to mix with the ample water (your stomach’s mixing waves occur every 15-25 seconds) with which you swallowed the capsules. So you have now rehydrated your aloe vera powder. Only when you have lesions or inflammation in your mouth or oesophagus is there a need for opening the capsules and ingesting the powder with water. This is easy and it does not taste horrible. With all 300 different types of molecules are out of the capsule, Aloeride® Aloe Vera goes to work. Broadly speaking the action is threefold and interconnected: anti-inflammatory, immune-modulatory and tissue healing with the target being mostly epithelium (tissue that separates tissue cells from air). Of course the first point of contact of these molecules is the alimentary canal, so it is hardly surprising that Aloeride® Aloe Vera’s molecules show their effect there first. Because Aloeride® Aloe Vera’s molecules also are absorbed into your bloodstream, they also find their way to peripheral tissue. Thus Aloeride® exerts effect way beyond the alimentary canal and causes powerful inside-out healing, the only route for safe wound healing and 24/7 skin care. Just how broad spectrum aloe vera works is underpinned by good research: cell growth, anti-inflammatory effect, anti-microbial effect, effect on burns, anti-diabetic effect, cardiovascular and lipid effect, anti-ageing effect and response to UV light, wound healing, gastrointestinal effects and immune modulation. Broad spectrum action is the result of 300 types of molecules as well as domino effect. To explain the latter, an inflamed intestinal wall for example becomes permeable to macromolecules that ought to stay within your alimentary canal. Enterocytes (intestine’s absorptive lining cells) normally determine what may enter the body - via transcellular crossing - and what stays inside the intestines. In leaky gut syndrome gaps occur in between the enterocytes so indiscriminate, paracellular crossing now can happen. Macromolecules gate crashing into your body trigger immune reactions. Aloeride® Aloe Vera helps close the gaps between enterocytes, thus indirectly changing immune response beyond its direct, researched effect on phagocytosis, lymphocytes and T-helper cells. Beyond that Aloeride® Aloe Vera also creates a more favourable milieu for good gut bacteria which in turn improves immunity. Three hundred different types of aloe vera molecules, working synergistically and causing domino effects, will act broad spectrum and the magic of all this forms the basis for aloe vera’s much deserved accolades.

Aloe Vera is useful when taking Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

Aloeride® Aloe Vera is useful when taking Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

When you injure yourself and get a painful inflammatory reaction in muscles, tendons or joints, you are likely to be prescribed Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID) or you may get some over-the-counter yourself. Per year some 25 million NSAID are prescribed in the UK, some 70 million in the USA and some 10 million in Canada. NSAID are overwhelmingly successful in helping acute and chronic pain. However their use has significant drawbacks: adverse effect on kidneys, asthma gets worse in some people and most importantly NSAID as well as Aspirin cause stomach and duodenal erosions. These can become ulcers, some of which bleed and in some folk who have bleeding ulcers, the bleeding is sufficiently severe to result in hospital admission and may cause death. A US study puts the human impact of NSAID-related gastrointestinal deaths into perspective: the rate is higher than that found from cervical cancer, asthma or malignant melanoma. [G Singh. Recent considerations in nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug gastropathy. American Journal of Medicine 1998 105(1B): 31S-38S.] Quite an eye opener by any standards. Good doctors prescribing NSAID try to balance their benefits and harms. So you may get so called gastroprotective medication (e.g. Misoprostol, PPIs and H2RAs) to try and offset the commonest side effect of NSAID. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and H2 Receptor Antagonists (H2RAs) cause acid-suppression. This means there is less acid to irritate the erosion or ulcer. However, this co-medication does not give your body any tools to heal that iatrogenic NSAID-related lesion. It merely forces a lesser irritant during ongoing erosive onslaught. Rather than just lowering acidity, which you actually need for a proper digestion of foods, it would be an extremely sensible approach to take a mucosoprotective agent that accelerates the healing of existing gastroduodenal ulcers and may prevent them in the first place. That specific agent is Aloeride® aloe vera capsules at a minimum of 2 capsules a day. There is plenty of good research to support this approach. [Blitz, J.J.; Smith, J.W.; Gerard, J.R. Aloe Vera Gel in peptic ulcer therapy; Preliminary report. Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. 1963.62.731-735.; Galalee, Kandila, Hegazy E, El Ghoroury M, Gobran W: Aloe Vera and gastrointestinal ulceration, J Drug Res Egypt 7:73-77, 1975.; Gupta MB, Nath R, Gupta GP, Bhargava KP: Antiulcer activity of some plant triterpenoids, Indian J Med Res 73:649-652, 1981.; Kandil A, Gobran W: Protection of gastric mucosa by Aloe Vera, J Drug Res Egypt 11:191-196, 1979.; Koo, M.W.L. Aloe Vera; anti-ulcer and anti-diabetic effects. Phytother Res. 1994. 8(8). 461-464.] In the UK those 25 million prescriptions resulted in 12,000 NSAID-related hospital admissions which resulted in 2,600 deaths. Those 70 million USA prescriptions resulted in 100,000 NSAID-related hospital admissions which result in 16,500 deaths. Now bear in mind that these figures occurred despite doctors being mindful of the harms and co-prescribing gastroprotective medication in line with present medical guidelines. These numbers represent people who thought they would be alright taking NSAID. And these are only the ones that needed hospitalisation, the number of people who actually had symptoms of erosion/ulcers but weren’t seen beyond Primary Care is of course much higher. [statistical data from Bandolier Journal] Alternatives to NSAID come in the form of enteric coated proteolytic enzymes and some of these have a lot of good research behind them. All well and good but for sledgehammer effect NSAID remain unbeaten. So the occurrence of NSAID-related stomach and intestinal erosion/ulceration is unlikely to change and in the famous words of Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry) you can be asked “Do you feel lucky?” Because for 12,000 people in the UK and 100,000 people in the US it didn’t pan out that well and the families of 2,600 Brits and 16,500 Americans now put one less plate on the dining room table every evening. Excellent analgesics and anti-inflammatories NSAID may be, but there is a price to pay. Present Medical Directive guidelines cause significant cost in human terms as well as in financial terms. In addition to the cost of NSAID themselves, the cost to the National Health Service for NSAID-related gastrointestinal adverse effects is some £331 million in co-prescribing and some £36 million in hospital costs. If you are on NSAID and are feeling slight nausea or abdominal discomfort then you have ulcerative erosion. At this point you can just hope that repair may happen by suppressing acidity or you give your body an (additional) agent that accelerates the healing and may even prevent NSAID-related gastroduodenal ulcers. Aloeride® Aloe Vera is privately prescribed by doctors and therapists but also can be purchased securely via the internet.