Aloe Vera is a great plant to have at home. It has many healing application not just an aid in sunburn. It’s been used in cosmetics for treating oily skin, acne, wrinkles and clear the blemishes.

So what else Aloe Vera can do for you?

• Treat skin condition: insect bites, acne, sunburns, rashes, soothes irritated skin, and makes skin look young;
• Oral analgesic that fights an inflammation caused by fungi and bacteria;
• Aloe Vera is a cellular regenerator and has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal effects;
• Heal sore stomach by destroying harmful bacteria or parasites in the intestines, bring immediate relief to unsettled stomach, and heal ulcers;
• An excellent internal tonic for energy and well being;
• Cleanse the body producing most gratifying results. Aloe Vera cleans the morbid matter from the stomach, liver, kidneys, spleen, bladder, and it’s the finest colon cleanser known. In turn, this process purifies the blood;
• Apparently contributes to Prolonging life. In a study performed by the Department of Physiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center, lab rats were given a 10% greater life span by ingesting Aloe. The animals showed lowered occurrences of various diseases including arterial thrombosis and leukemia. In addition, no adverse side effects were found in the rats on a diet that included Aloe.

However not every Aloe Vera plant has healing components. If you want to grow the right kind you should get Aloe Barbadensis Miller. It has some 200 curing components and 74 known nutrients. This includes some of B vitamins like B12 and most of amino acids, iron, manganese, calcium, Zinc mineral, enzymes etc.

Same goes to Aloe Vera beauty products – just because it says Aloe Vera on the package it does not mean it contains Aloe Vera healing properties. So I was thinking it’s great to have a plant at home and make home made aloe Vera juices, moisturizers, and face masks.

Wow, not so fast! You have to consider so much when growing and harvesting your Aloe Vera for healing purposes. Plus it takes 3 to 5 years for Aloe Vera to mature fully and that’s when it is the most powerful. You need to water it in a special way also. But the most difficult task I found is being able to preserve heeling components of Aloe Vera. Once an aloe plant is opened and the gel exposed to oxygen, rapid oxidation begins even if refrigerated. Aloe juice needs to be stabilized with preservatives.

So for now I will stick with good quality Aloe Vera products. I will show you how to find and test them. First be aware of the preservatives used – some of them like benzoic acid (sodium benzoate is another term) is a known toxin to cats and should be avoided. However some preservatives are not harmful like citric acid and potassium sorbate so that would be your first choice when buying Aloe Vera juices or other products.

Another thing that you can do is to dispense a little amount of aloe vera juice on your hand to see if it’s absorbed fast leaving your skin soft and smooth. If this is the case then you have a good quality juice.

If Aloe Vera product comes in a form of pill like Aloeride that is made to high pharmaceutical standards you can dissolve it with water and test the same way as with any aloe vera juices.