For thousands of years, man has been using Aloe Vera, like other medicinal plants, as a healing plant thanks to its proven effectiveness in the treatment of burns, insect bites or healing of wounds and dermatological irritations. The oldest documents mentioning their use and application can be found in cuneiform script in the clay table of Asurbanipal, whose antiquity dates back to the dawn of mankind. That this plant has been very important for the ancient civilizations and cultures is shown by the fact that it is also mentioned, for example, in the botanical dictionary Asiris de Thomson, whose texts appear Aloe Vera with the name of Sibaru. But everything indicates that its healing activity goes even beyond a mere regenerator of our skin.
The word Aloe, comes from the Hebrew word alloeh and means "bright bitter substance", while the word Vera has its origin in Latin and means "truth." Thus, according to the meaning of one of its many names, we can affirm that "bitter and brilliant truth" regenerates us and returns health. And we say one of its many names because Aloe, being a plant that has multitude of varieties of each species, (300), is also
Called lináloe, aloe, aloe, pita, alabaster pita, salbila ... depending on the locality where you are. Thus, in our country this plant is known under different names depending on the region: in Castilian, like aloe or aloe; In Catalan, as atzavara; In Galician, as herba slug; And in eusquera, as belaaminztza. The name aloe (and its variants) is of Arab origin and is attributed to the deformation of the term çabila, which means "thorny plant". And in Hebrew it translates as sabra, which is a term related to the concept of patience and the resistance of this plant.
Our body has natural medicine and phytotherapy (consumption of plants that are beneficial to combat diseases) as a way to reinforce natural healing processes. Of all the known plants, few gather the huge amount of healing properties for our body that owns Aloe Vera. Of the three thousand species of medicinal plants accredited within our reach, this is the one that most fascinates the consumers who know it and who have managed to taste some of its inexhaustible properties.
In the wide world grow some three hundred species of Aloe, but essentially are two varieties that are used for commercial use in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and nutritional industry to gather the necessary curative conditions. One is Aloe Barbadensis Miller, also known as Aloe Barbados, and the other species is Aloe Arborescensis. These two vegetable spices are grown in the Canary Islands, India, Australia, Africa, South America, Central America, along the Pacific coast and in the Caribbean countries.
The extensive chemical analysis of this powerful juice has shown that, among many other components, it contains essential amino acids, vitamins, enzymes, polysaccharides and biological stimulators, which are essential for a correct functioning of the organism.
Aloe Vera is strongly involved in the mechanism of prostaglandins, through which the cells safeguard their integrity, as well as having an own anti-inflammatory effect that acts at the cellular level, causing self-regeneration of the affected tissues.
In 1951 a great leap occurred on the therapeutic conditions of Aloe Vera. Doctors Niemann and Ikawa discovered that the pulp (inner part of the leaf) was composed basically of several polysaccharides or sugars. Realizing that polysaccharides and monosaccharides were the main responsible for the therapeutic conditions of this plant. It was verified that these sugars are those that give the plant many of its virtues, demonstrating the capacity they have in the stimulation of the immune system, as well as its usefulness, pointed out in the last investigations, in all diseases related to immunodeficiency, Such as cancer and AIDS. Without going any further, Acemanano has proven to be very effective as a regenerator of damaged tissues, as it stimulates the immune system, while facilitating the creation of fibroblast cells, thereby increasing the proportion of metabolic activity and Cell replication, fundamental in all healing processes.
A few years later, Dr. Gunnar Gjerstd's team at the University of Texas found the major inorganic elements present in Aloe Vera: chlorine, calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, and manganese. Professor Gunnar realized that in total there are more than twenty minerals found in the plant. But, for a while, focused his research on amino acids and noted, with astonishment, that our millennial plant contained 18 of the 22 amino acids present in the human organism, and seven of the eight that are considered essential, as well as finding vitamins Such as B1, niacin, vitamin B2, B6, and choline, and a total of 80 nutritional components of tissues. Due to the great amount of properties that it possesses, Aloe Vera juice has infinite applications in the world of medicine. Over the years it has been decreed its composition and discovering new applications. Many of these applications were gradually incorporated into drugs we normally use on a daily basis. There are about 3000 scientific reports from 1920 to 1990. In the last two decades, new studies have continued. All of them describe the healing properties of Aloe Vera juice, either ingested or applied topically. The beneficial effect that daily consumption of Aloe Vera juice has on the digestive system, especially in the treatment of ailments such as diarrhea, heartburn or irritable colon, as well as in the cases of gastritis and ulcer, in which Aloe Vera juice acts as a healing and antacid. Its efficiency is due, in the first instance, to the components of this wonderful plant has a similar structure, acetylsalicylic acid, which, in combination with the magnesium also contains the juice of Aloe Vera, produces an anesthetic effect. Dr. Gunnar Gjerstd's team, who studies this plant in depth, has discovered that its properties act on the mechanism of prostaglandins, through which the cell maintains its full integrity, as well as its natural nutrients: minerals, vitamins , Amino acids and enzymes, stimulate the production of new cells in our organism. During the Middle Ages, at the time of the Crusades, the Arab people knew perfectly the properties of Aloe Vera juice, which they considered the remedy par excellence. When they invaded Al-Andalus they cultivated large tracts of land with this medicinal plant. This was how it became known and began to be used throughout the Peninsula and spread throughout the rest of Europe. The doctor Cordovan Averroes named Aloe Vera juice in his extensive medical work to cure some ailments. In the life of the Andalusian physician, Andalusia was a great cultural and scientific center, and all the doctors were amazed at the excellent properties of the plant and the numerous cures it offered. The juice of Aloe Vera is also named in the sacred book of the Bible: the Song of Songs, the Numbers or in the Gospels themselves. All these holy scriptures name it repeatedly. It was Nicodemus, who had come at night to see Jesus of Nazareth, carrying in his saddlebag of Aloe Vera and perfumed myrrh to shroud the body of Sinless and wrapping it in canvases, impregnated with these two components, according to Sephardic custom, To bury the dead. Also the great discoverer of the American continent, Admiral Christopher Columbus, mentions Aloe Vera as one of the medicinal plants used among his crew for medical emergencies, as we can see in this quote: << Four are the foods that are indispensable For the well-being of man: wheat, grape, olive, and Aloe Vera. The first feeds, the second raises the mood, the third brings harmony and the fourth heals the organism.