Natural Goodies 4 U

I am an Independent Distributor for FOREVER LIVING PRODUCTS.   Natural Goodies 4 U was formed in May, 2000 and I have many years experience in the Complimentary Therapy trade with the focus on providing aloe vera products to clients worldwide.   I am based in Lampeter, Wales.

F.L.P. has an exclusive range of Aloe Vera health, beauty and skincare products.   The drinks, creams and bee products are suitable for humans and animals - but not tested on animals.

I really enjoy helping people and animals feel better and save money while helping the environment along the way.

(by Dr. Peter Atherton.)

What is Aloe Vera?

Aloe Vera, often called the Miracle Plant, the Silent Healer, the Burn Plant or even the Medicine Plant, goes by many names which have survived the 4,000 or so years during which this amazing medicinal herb has benefited mankind.

A History of Healing.

George Ebers in 1862 first discovered its antiquity in an ancient Egyptian papyrus, dated 3,500BC, which turned out to be a collection of herbal remedies.   Other researchers have since found it was used by both the ancient Chinese and Indian cultures.   Greek and Roman physicians such as Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder used it to great effect and legend suggests that Aristotle persuaded Alexander the Great to capture the island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean to get its rich supply of aloe to heal his wounded soldiers on the return from their successful campaign into Persia in 333BC.   The Egyptian queens Nefertiti and Cleopatra also rated it highly as a beauty therapy.

Although there are over 200 species of aloe, there are probably only four or five with medicinal properties.   Of these, Aloe Barbadensis Miller, (also known as Aloe Linnes and Aloe Vulgaris), is the most potent.   It is the only one entitled to be known as Aloe Vera or the true aloe.

Aloe Vera is a succulent, looking rather like a cactus but it is in fact a member of the lily family related to onions, garlic and asparagus.   When mature, the inner gel can be harvested, preserved and bottled to produce a product that is as near to the natural plant juice as we can get.

To benefit from Aloe Vera, the gel can be taken internally for its nutritional anti-inflammatory and immun balancing effect.   It can also be combined with other ingredients to produce topical creams and lotions to nourish and improve the quality of the skin.

For a product to work properly, aloe needs to be the principal ingredient.

Look for a product with a substantial Aloe Vera content.

Inside the Leaf.

Inside the leaf Aloe Vera gel contains at least 75 known ingredients, and maybe more, which are yet to be discovered.   These ingredients can be divided into the following groups:-

Vitamins - it contains a wide range, but the most important ones are the antioxidant Vitamins C and E and Beta-Carotene, the precursor of Vitamin A.   It is also one of the very few plants in the world to contain Vitamin B12.

Minerals - these include magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper, chromium, calcium, sodium, potassium and iron.

Amino Acids - the human body requires 20 amino acids, the building blocks of proteins and Aloe Vera gel provides 19 of them.   More importantly, it provides seven of the eight essential amino acids, that cannot be manufactured by the body and which therefore have to be consumed as food.

Sugars - these include the important long chain polysaccharides which act on the immune system to boost its effects.

Enzymes - lipases and proteases which break down food and aid digestion as well as a carboxypeptidase that is involved in the inflammatory process.

Plant Sterols - the three main types act as powerful anti-inflammatory agents.

Saponins - these are soapy substances the exert a powerful anti-microbial effect against bacteria, viruses, fungi and yearsts such as candida or 'thrush'.

Lignin - this woody substance bestows on Aloe Vera its penetrative ability to reach deep into the skin.

Anthraquinones - the most important ones being aloin and emodin, but altogether they are strong painkillers, and are acknowledged to possess anti-bacterial and virucidal activity.   In their pure form, they are very powerful laxatives.

Salycylic Acid - this aspirin-like compound is anti-inflammatory when taken orally and used topically it helps to break down dead tissue.

Which Type of Aloe?

In my opinion, the filleted inner leaf gel is superior to Aloe 'Juices' produced by the whole leaf method because whole leaf products are filtered and often concentrated.   This process, using a powerful filter, may remove ingredients we are not yet even aware of.

In terms of consumer products, the International Aloe Science Council (I.A.S.C.) allows the term 'Juice' to be used for a liquid containing only 15% certified Aloe Vera.   To qualify as 'Gel' the product must contain at least 85% certified Aloe Vera.   Even when buying an inner leaf gel, look for the Seal of Approval of the International Aloe Science Council.

Why Does it Work?

It works by providing a rich cocktail of nutritional elements whose combined action and balance produce a more powerful effect together than would be expected from the actions of the individual components.   This is because they work as a team, enhancing each other's effect - known as synergism.   It also has adaptogenic properties which means it is a substance which increases non-specific resistance of an organism to adverse influences such as infection or stress.

Where Does it Work?

Aloe Vera, because of its nutritional qualities and antioxidant properties, helps firstly to prevent injury to epithelial tissues, and when they are damaged, it promotes its healing.

Antioxidants fight the destructive 'free radicals', the unstable compounds produced by our metabolism and found in environmental pollutants.   They are thought to cause various ailments including some cancers as well as contributing towards the ageing process.

An epithelium is an anatomical term defined as "An epithelium is a layer of cells that covers the body or lines a cavity that connects with it".   Our largest epithelium is our skin but also included are the lining of the gut, the bronchial tubes and the genital tract.   No wonder that aloe works just as well on damaged skin as it does, say, on an inflamed bowel or in asthma, i.e. it works on surfaces and membranes rather than solid organs.

How Does it Work?

Its natural anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial action combined within its nutritional constituents promote cell growth and therefore healing.

However, it is not only helpful for people with problems as most people taking it report a greater sense of well-being - they just feel 'better' or they report feeling calmer and less anxious.

I believe this last comment is due to aloe's second effect on the immune system which you may say becomes balanced or fine-tuned and therefore more efficient at defending the body from attack.

Aloe Vera is not a panacea for all ills and there is no magic about it.   I believe it works primarily in the two areas mentioned previously - epithelial tissue and the immune system.   This is supported by a considerable amount of anecdotal evidence but is now being backed up by clinical trials.

Many thousands of people over the centuries have reported benefit for various skin complaints such as eczema, psoriasis, ulcers, burns, acne, even stings and bites.   They have found relief for bowel disorders such as colitis, diverticulitis and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.   Other conditions resulting from a disordered immune system such as arthritis, asthma and M.E. (post viral fatigue syndrome) and L.E. (lupus) have improved after a regular ingestion of Aloe Vera gel.

Aloe Vera therefore has a complementary role to play in the management of various conditions.   As I have said its positive effects are now being demonstrated in clinical trials, such as in the treatment of Ulcerative Colitis.

It is very important however that people always seek the advice of their doctor when a diagnosis is in doubt or where a condition does not improve.   Self-diagnosis can be extremely dangerous as many serious conditions can mimic the more simple ones.

About the Author

Dr. Peter Atherton MB.ChB., D.Obst. R.C.O.G., F.R.C.G.P.

Qualified at Leeds University and after six years in the Royal Army Medical Corps, he became an NHS General Practitioner and GP trainer in Buckinghamshire where he practiced for 25 years.

After leaving the NHS he spent two years as a visiting research fellow at the University of Oxford.   After which he was appointed as Director of the Tyringham Clinic, Europe's largest residential naturopathic clinic.

During his medical practice, he developed an interest in Dermatology, having spent three years in the Skin Department of a District Hospital.   This interest combined with an understanding of the power of herbal remidies gained whilst serving in the Far East led to his fascination with Aloe Vera.   He lectures extensively on the medical aspects of Aloe Vera and is the author of three books on the subject.   The latest, entitled "Aloe Vera the Medicine Plant" is already on the way to being an international best seller.

He has just been elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Practitioners, the highest recognition in his branch of the profession.

This is provided for educational purposes and is not an endorsement of any particular products containing Aloe Vera.

 

The following article appeared in the March, 2002 (Vol. 6, No. 8) issue.   This is an independant monthly magazine which reports on the best - and the worst - on offer in alternative and complementary medicines.

Aloe Vera has enjoyed a 'good press' for the past 4,000 years.   Sadly, of late, it's a bandwagon upon which some unscrupulous manufactures have jumped to fleece the unsuspecting consumer.

So how can you avoid the great Aloe Vera con?

The best place to start is to see if the product has been awarded an International Aloe Science Council (IASC) Seal.   This seal guarantees the purity of the Aloe contained in the bottle or jar, but not the amount of Aloe.   Also, be sure it really is the IASC Seal and a copy!

Be wary of any product that claims that the bottle contents are 100% Aloe - that's an impossibility.   Aloe is a plant that needs preservatives.   Without them, the product will go off within a week, and it will hardly have reached the store by then.   The best you can hope for is around 98% Aloe.

It's better if the product has been cold-pressed - which means that more of the natural ingredients should be preserved.

You also want a product that is 'aloin-free' although, in reality, the aloin should be no more than 50 ppm (parts per million).   Aloin is a very strong laxative and is a by-product of the plant.

You'll see 'polysaccharides' on the label.   Polysaccharides are the natural sugars of the Aloe plant.   Around 1,500-3,000mg/litre are found naturally - any more and the delicate synergistic balance could be desturbed.

Be suspicious of any product that's been reconstituted or reformulated in some way - it means that the natural Aloe has been tampered with.

Finally, expect to pay around $16 for a litre of Aloe.   Much less and you may be making a false economy.

So, How Does Forever Living Products' Aloe Vera Gel Stack Up Against This?

This Forever Living product was the first to ever win an IASC Seal, and is the first to be used in a double-blind placebo-controlled trial as a treatment for I.B.S.

Its polysaccharide content falls within the IASC range, but varies from 1,500 to 3,000mg/litre, depending on when the plant was harvested.   Aloe Gel makes up 97-98% of the content;  the rest includes 62 ppm of aloin, and the preservatives potassium sorbate and sodium banzoate.

Unlike many of its competatives that use the whole Aloe leaf, Forever Living Products uses just the inner leaf.

Foever Living Products offers a full, 90-day, money-back guarantee, which is one reason, it says, that the product is not available in shops.   Instead, it is sold either by mail order or through its large network-marketing distribution chain.

Retail Price:  £18 for 1 litre.