|
The Aloe plant is commonly found in South Africa, Madagascar, the Arabian peninsula, and South Africa’s Cape Province. It is a genus that contains over 400 succulent plants.
Most Aloes have fleshy, large, and usually thick leaves. The leaves are usually spiny and pointed at the ends. The flowers form into a tube shape, and are yellow, red, or orange in color. The leaves can grow at ground level, or they go from a stem, which may be branched or unbranched. The leaves are sometimes striped or of a mottled appearance, and are grey to bright green color wise.
These plants are very attractive and often favored by the succulent plant collector for ornamental purposes. However, they have been used for many years as a benefit in other areas. The Aloe can be traced back to the days of Cleopatra when she used the plant for beauty purposes. There are over 300 species, but only a few are used for herbal medicine. Aloe Vera being the most common of the species used for a variety of products. Aloe was used to treat wounds by the Greeks and the Romans. The yellowish liquid contained inside the leaves was popularly used as a purgative. In more modern times the gel is used for the treatment of eczema, ringworm, burns, and various other skin conditions. In Korea Aloe is also used in beverages, and as a tea additive.
Aloe vera is the mucilage of the plant, as opposed to Aloes which are the expressed liquid of the leaves of the plant. Some species of the Aloe are poisonous, and one such poisonous type is the Aloe Venenosa.
There haven’t been too many studies into the effects of taking Aloe internally. The studies that were done found that it healed wounds in mice, lowering risk factors in patients with heart disease, and decreasing fasting blood in diabetic animals. None of these studies have been guaranteed, and the use of false advertising for Aloe is very common.
The Aloe product has been advertised in the curing of coughs, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, headaches, cancer, ulcers, immune-system disorders, and other conditions.
|
Author Bio Box: Pauline Abreu
http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/122817/pauline_abreu.html
Didn't really find what you were looking for?
|
|
|
| |
|
|
![[Valid RSS feed]](images/rss.gif "Subscribe to our XML Feed for RSS")
(Read 100+ times)
