Aloe Vera Study Evaluation

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Effect Of Orally Consumed Aloe Vera Juice On Gastrointestinal Function In Normal Humans Excerpts By Jeffrey Bland, Ph.D. Linus Pauling Institute of Science & Medicine Preventive Medicine, March/April 1985 Abstract This study evaluated the effect of oral Aloe vera juice supplementation on gastric pH, stool specific gravity, protein digestion/absorption, and stool microbiology. Results indicate that supplemental oral Aloe vera juice is well tolerated by most individuals and has favorable effects upon a number of gastrointestinal parameters. A discussion of the potential role of Aloe vera juice on inflammatory bowel disorders based upon this work is presented. Introduction Members of the genus Aloe Barbadensis and Aloe vera have been used historically for medical purposes. Going back to ancient Phoenician literature, historical records chronicle the application of internal contents of the leaves of the Aloe plant for the treatment of burns, wounds, and other dermatological conditions. The pharmacological principle(s) in Aloe has been the subject of great controversy throughout this history. In recent years, individuals have extracted the Aloe plant looking for specific nutritional agents, alkaloids, sapponins, fatty acid materials, glycoproteins, or terpenoid substances that may account for its unique ability to promote healing of the dermis. This research has uniformly resulted in failure to identify the active principle in Aloe. It has been suggested that the extract of the Aloe plant promotes tissue reparation through the complex synergistic interaction of many substances, including vitamins, mineral amino acids, and other small constituent molecules that are members of the terpenoid family. Substances such as Aloe-Emodin or Aloe Resin-A have been evaluated recently from Aloe extraction concentrates as being terpenoids, characteristic of Aloe potency. A
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