Your answer is "Yes" and "No."
"Yes," you have heard of it -- it is aloe vera -- and "no," you did not know that it is a universal panacea.
Why have we not heard of its wonders? I suppose we can blame the pharmaceutical companies as they cannot make enough money from something as natural as dandelion greens. The research and use of aloe has been in the hands of those who have stumbled on its value as a dermatological healer. Decades or rather centuries ago, some risk-taker thought if this aloe stuff works so well on the skin, "maybe it will work on my spastic colon." The explosive diarrhea that followed told this experimenter there were powerful factors inside this green leaf.
More research found and removed the purging element, alloin, so the benefits of the rest of the leaf could be explored. Aloe has many of the vitamins and minerals that all leaves have, but a long-chain carbohydrate (mucopolysaccharide) appears to be the key therapeutic ingredient. I had thought that the digestive enzyme, amylase, would break down all the starch-like compounds, but the body can split up alpha linkages; this saccharide has beta links (B-linked acetylated polymannose). The lining cells of the gut take in this long chain and then pass it on through to the circulation.
It has proven to 1) stimulate macrophage activity, 2) prevent viruses from infecting normal cells and slows viral replication, and 3) reverses 3/4 of otherwise fatal dog and cat fibrosarcomata. Those results are due to the enhancement of the immune system. Many other uses are under investigation: skin conditions from acne to warts, intestinal disorders from nausea to diarrhea, infections from yeast to AIDS and cancer. A miracle "drug." Oops, I mean a wonderful substance.
I am swallowing about an ounce a day of a product (whole-leaf, cold processed aloe) with a guaranteed concentration of 6,000 to 10,000 mg of the MPS per liter. I am in such good health anyway, I have no way to tell if it is doing me any good, although my wife says I have less gas. I can tell you how to get the best aloe on the market, but you will have to swear that you have something wrong with you. (Use the address below.)
Lendon H. Smith, M.D.
Portland, Oregon
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