Herbs & Herbal Remedies @ Green Papaya

To help soothe wounds, burns, scalds, and sunburn, and to help avoid infection, select a lower (older) leaf, cut several inches off, slice it lengthwise, apply the gel, and allow it to dry Make sure you clean the wound properly with soap and water first. As for the injured leaf, it quickly closes its own wound. The rest of it may be used in the future.

To enjoy the cosmetic benefits of aloe, apply gel from the leaf to freshly washed skin. Discontinue use if it seems to irritate your skin.

The Safety Factor

Aloe gel is safe for external use by anyone who does not develop an allergic reaction. Aloe is best used in consultation with your doctor. Tell your doctor if wounds do not heal significantly within two weeks or appear to be getting worse.

Never a Laxative

Aloe latex contains laxative chemicals (anthraquinones) with such powerful purgative action that they are called cathartics. Other laxative herbs (senna, rhubarb, buckthorn, and cascara sagrada) also contain anthraquinones, but aloe’s action is considered the most drastic-and least recommended-because it often causes severe intestinal cramps and diarrhea. Many herbalists discourage its use, but some supplement companies sell aloe laxative tablets. If you use them, never exceed the package dose recommendation and reduce your dose or stop using the product if you develop intestinal cramps.

If you’re looking for a natural laxative, your best bet is to seek other herbs with proven, but milder, results, such as psyllium and cascara sagrada.

Aloe latex should not be ingested by pregnant women. Its cathartic nature may stimulate uterine contractions and trigger miscarriage. It should not be used by nursing mothers. The latex enters mother’s milk and may cause stomach cramps and violent catharsis in infants.

Aloe’s cathartic power may also aggravate ulcers, hemorrhoids, diverticulosis, diverticulitis, colitis, or irritable bowel syndrome. Anyone with a gastrointestinal illness should not use aloe latex as a laxative.

In general. aloe latex is not recommended for internal use.

Possible Side Effect

Although aloe gel may help heal injured skin, one case study reported eczema-like welts in a man who had used it for several years-proving that too much of a good thing may cause problems.

Native Cultivation - Easy to Grow Indoors

Aloe is the perfect houseplant for people with brown thumbs because it requires little water and no other care. Aloe prefers sun, but tolerates shade and doesn’t mind poor soil. The only conditions this hardy succulent cannot tolerate are poor drainage and temperatures below about 40°F. Bring potted aloes indoors before the temperature falls lower.

Aloe periodically produces off-shoots, which may be removed and replanted when they are a few inches tall. Simply uproot or unpot the plant, work the soil gently to separate the offshoot, and return the mother plant to its bed or pot.

Contemporary herbalists use aloe in some of the same ways Dioscorides used it almost 2,000 years ago-externally for burns and wounds.

Wounds, Burns, Scalds, Scrapes, Sunburn - Scientific evidence of aloe’s wound-healing power was first documented in 1935 when an American medical journal reported the case of a woman whose x-ray burns were successfully treated with aloe gel scooped straight from leaves cut from the plant. Since then, several studies have supported the herb’s ability to spur the healing of first- and second-degree burns and other wounds. One report claims aloe also eases the discomfort of poison ivy rash.

Infection Fighter - Aloe gel may not only spur wound healing, it may also help prevent infection in injured skin. Several studies show aloe effective against many different bacteria that can invade a wound.

Skin Creams - Cleopatra massaged aloe gel into her skin to make it shine. The herb is still widely used in skin-care products. But if you’re after beautiful skin, do what the legendary Egyptian beauty did-use the fresh leaf gel, not the “stabilized” (preserved) gel used in commercial shampoos and skin products. Stabilized aloe has none of the fresh herb’s skin-healing benefits. If you enjoy the fragrance of aloe shampoos and skin lotions, fine. just don’t expect them to tum you into Cleopatra.

Intriguing Possibilities - Studies show that aloe may kill the fungus (Candida albicans) that causes vaginal yeast infections. Its possible effectiveness against the yeast fungus has led some herbalists to recommend using the herb to treat the infection itself. But just because it kills the fungus in laboratory tests doesn’t mean it can wipe out the infection in the human body. No scientific studies support this use, and a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel found insufficient evidence to recommend aloe as a yeast treatment.

In laboratory tests, one chemical (aloe-emodin) in aloe has shown promise against leukemia, but National Cancer Institute scientists say experimental preparations are still too toxic to give to leukemia sufferers. Although aloe has been used externally in folk medicine as a treatment for skin cancer, its effectiveness has never been studied scientifically.

A European study suggests aloe gel reduces blood sugar (glucose) levels in experimental animals and humans with diabetes. The gel is not usually taken internally, but if other studies confirm this effect, aloe might one day be used to help manage diabetes.

Soothe Those Wounds

Family: Liliaceae; (includes lily, tulip, garlic)

Genus and species: Aloe Vera

Also known as: Cape, Barbados, Curaiao, Socotrine, or Zanzibar Aloe

Parts used: The jellylike gel found in the leaves, and the bitter, yellow juice (latex) extracted from specialized cells of the leaves’ inner skin

Every kitchen should have a potted aloe on the windowsill. That way, when minor burns, scalds, or cuts occur, it’s easy to cut off one of the thick, fleshy leaves and squeeze its clear gel onto the injury. Aloe gel dries into a natural bandage. It may promote wound healing and help prevent infection.

Another part of aloe, the latex (extracted from special cells on its inner leaf skin), is a powerful laxative-so potent, in fact, that many authorities say it should not be taken internally.

A Cause of War

Aloe has been used in healing since the dawn of history. Egyptian medical writings from 1500 S.c. recommend it for infections, skin problems, and as a laxative-uses supported by modern science.

Aloe is one of the few non-narcotic plants to cause a war.

When Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 B.C., he heard of a plant with amazing wound-healing powers on an island off Somalia. Intent on healing his soldiers’ wounds and denying this healer to his enemies-Alexander sent an army to seize the island and the plant, which turned out to be aloe.

The Greek physician Dioscorides recommended aloe externally for wounds, hemorrhoids, ulcers, and hair loss. The Roman naturalist Pliny prescribed it internally as a laxative.

Arab traders carried aloe from Spain to Asia around the 6th century and introduced it to India’s traditional Ayurvedic physicians, who used it to treat skin problems, intestinal worms, and menstrual discomforts. Chinese healers used it similarly.

More recently, pioneers used aloe gel to treat wounds, burns, and hemorrhoids. These uses continue to this day.