aloe

[Guest guest]

hi GB

 

there are different kinds of Aloe products on the market leading to

considerable confusion

further, the chemical activity of Aloe depends upon the aloe species -

for e.g. Aloe vera contains much less of the profoundly purgative aloe

emodin (a hydroxyanthracene) than Aloe barbadensis

 

on one end of the spectrum we have an extract from the yellow resin

that is obtained by cutting the leaf of (usually) Aloe barbadensis-

this resin is dried and is a very strong, very harsh purgative

containing upwards of 20% aloe emodin - it is listed as officinal in

many pharmacopeias, and used to be used extensively by doctors and

physicians but has since fallen out of favor, simply because it is too

strong

 

at the other end is the pure Aloe gel, which is ONLY the inner pulp

that is "filleted" from the leaf rind, and is has zero purgative

effect, a limited medicinal effect, and is commonly found in skin care

products for burns

 

an aloe leaf can be divided into three components: the inner leaf gel,

an medial leaf latex, and an outer leaf resin - all are medicinal, and

contain many more chemicals as a collective that the polysaccharides in

the pure gel, for e.g. antiinflammatory salicylates

 

if you "filet" an aloe and scrape out the gel with a spoon or knife,

you will get the gel and some of the latex, depending upon how thorough

you are

if you take a leaf and simply juice it, you will get all of the

components, including all the aloin in the resin, which could have a

purgative activity

the aloe emodin usually occurs kind of brownish, so if you juice a

whole leaf and the juice is kind of brownish it might be too high in

aloe emodin

 

in otherwords, you can juice the whole leaf and see what it looks like,

taste it, and try a small amount (say, 10-15 mL) - if its not too

bitter (some bitter is OK), and does not cause any kind of purging you

can try and take more then next day

 

the safest method however is to thoroughly scrape the gel right down to

the rind

this can be pounded, blended or juiced to break up the chunks

this will still contain some aloe emodin, but less than the whole leaf

 

 

todd caldecott

 

 

On May 13, 2005, at 3:38 AM, ayurveda wrote:

 

>

>

> I think most aloe vera juice is just the gel inside the leaf.

> It sounds like you are using the whole leaf. Does the outer part of

> the leaf have some different properties than the inside of the leaf?

>

> GB Khalsa

> Caldecott

todd

www.toddcaldecott.com

 

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public

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-Richard P. Feynman