Aloe, agave, aloe vera - we all know these names. Is it the same thing? Is it associated with an unpretentious plant, which is in almost every house? And of course, the use of aloe. Someone heard about the beneficial properties of the plant, someone has already tried its effect on themselves. However, we recommend that you proceed to treatment and prevention with this tool only after fully familiarizing yourself with its features. In the articles we will present not only them, but also popular effective alternative recipes for aloe vera preparations.
Aloe, Agave and Aloe Vera
Let's deal with the names to avoid confusion.
Aloe is a genus of flowering flora of the Xanthorrhoea family, which includes more than 500 species! Most of them are succulents with thick leaves and stems, designed to accumulate moisture and nutrients in themselves.
In medicine, the fleshy leaves of the plant are used. In rare cases, the stems. Out of the whole variety, only a dozen and a half species have healing properties. Among them stand out aloe vera ( real aloe ) and agave (aloe tree). Aloe vera is believed to be more effective for internal use, and agave for skin diseases. Both species can be grown at home.
Useful properties of the plant
So why is aloe so widely used in medicine? Although its leaves are 80% water, the plant contains about 250 different biological substances! According to these figures, it has no competitors among other representatives of the flora.
The following are distinguished among the microcomponents of aloe:
- Essential oils.
- Organic acids - citric, succinic, malic, etc.
- Monosaccharides - fructose and glucose.
- Esters.
- Resins
- Tannins.
- Flavonoids.
- Volatile
- Vitamins of groups A, B (1, 2, 3, 6, 9), C, E.
- Amino acids - aspartic, glutamic, glycine, essential amino acids.
- Beta carotene.
- Alkaloids.
- Polysaccharides.
- Magnesium.
- Phosphorus.
- Manganese.
- Iron.
- Potassium.
- Calcium.
- Selenium.
- Zinc.
- Copper and so on.
Most valuable plant juice. It is obtained from the leaves or tops of the stems. It is used both fresh and stripped off (it will be called sabur). They extract it from the leaves, pressing them. But the beautiful flowers of the plant are completely useless for medical purposes.
Often the use of aloe vera oil. The extract for it is also extracted from the leaves. The inclusion of plant components can be seen in many ointments, creams, gels and syrups. There is also a form of a solution for injection (we will talk about it in detail later).
Aloe application
Juice, extract, pulp of medicinal plant species have a beneficial effect on:
- immunity;
- Gastrointestinal tract;
- heart and blood vessels;
- skin integument;
- vision;
- nervous system.
The healing effect is expressed in the following:
- Antiviral and antifungal effects.
- Improving overall tone, improving well-being.
- Recovery of intestinal microflora.
- Acceleration of hair growth.
- Removal of toxins from the body.
- Decrease in the level of harmful cholesterol and glucose (sugar) in the blood.
- Improvement of blood circulation.
- Relief in allergic reactions.
- Removing toothache, headache, joint pain.
- Antioxidant, laxative and diuretic effects.
- A powerful bactericidal effect against typhoid, diphtheria, dysentery bacillus, staphylococci and streptococci.
- Oncology prevention, an additional tool to complex therapy in the treatment of cancer.
Aloe is widely used in:
- Dentistry
- dermatology;
- gynecology;
- ophthalmology.
The plant is effective in the fight against diseases of the heart, vascular and respiratory systems.
Indications for use with aloe injections
This form of the drug is also common. Instructions for the use of injections with aloe content explain the composition of the drug:
- Dry aloe extract (active ingredient).
- Sodium chloride (auxiliary element).
- Water for injections.
Indications for the use of aloe in injections overlap with indications for folk recipes:
- Treatment of trophic ulcers, cicatricial formations.
- Neurology: as part of the complex therapy of neuralgia, ra-deculovritis, neuritis, with a decrease in smell and hearing, residual effects from transferred polyneuritis and strokes.
- Infertility treatment in women and men.
- Ophthalmology: optic nerve atrophy, inflammatory diseases of the visual organs (conjunctivitis, keratitis, blepharitis), retinitis pigmentosa, progressive myopia, vitreous clouding, chorioretinitis.
- Pulmonology: a complex treatment of asthma of bronchial, pneumonia or tuberculosis.
- Gastroenterology: complex therapy for loss of appetite, diseases of the gastrointestinal system during remission (without exacerbation) - enterocolitis, gastritis, cholecystitis, etc.
Use of injection
The use of aloe in ampoules is as follows:
- Subcutaneous administration.
- The maximum dose for 24 hours is 3-4 ml of the drug.
- Adults are given 1 ml of solution daily, for children over 5 years old - 0.5 ml, for children under 5 years old - 0.2-0.3 ml of the drug.
- With pulmonary tuberculosis, the starting dose of the drug is 0.2 ml. Further, it gradually increases.
- In bronchial asthma, 1-1.5 ml of solution is administered daily for 10-15 days. Further, the medicine is used once every 2 days.
- The course of therapy: 30-35 ampoules.
Side effect of injections
The use of aloe vera extract in ampoules can lead to a number of side effects. Instructions for the drug warns of the possibility of the following:
- Allergic reactions.
- Diarrhea.
- High blood pressure.
- Hyperthermia.
- Soreness in the location of subcutaneous administration. In this case, 0.5 ml of novocaine (with an active substance concentration of 20 mg / ml) is pre-injected.
Contraindications to injections
Instructions for use of aloe in ampoules warns of the following contraindications to the use of the drug:
- Hypersensitivity to the active and / or auxiliary component.
- Pregnancy.
- Renal chronic failure.
- Age to 1 year.
- Chronic heart failure.
- Cystitis.
- Arterial hypertension.
- Metrorrhagia.
- Hemorrhoids.
- Cholelithiasis.
- Blood spitting.
- Inflammatory processes in the digestive tract.
Restorative and restorative
Many note in their reviews this recipe for using aloe as an effective tool to help restore vitality, strengthen immunity, and cleanse the body of toxins.
The preparation of the medicine is possible at home:
- Cut a few fleshy leaves of a regular home plant. It is best if it is already quite old - 3-5 years old.
- Wrap the leaves in foil. Send the package to the refrigerator for a week.
- After a period of time, thoroughly rinse the leaves and peel them.
- Grind in a blender or meat grinder.
- Dilute with water in a ratio of 3: 1 (water / mass of aloe). You can drip a little lemon juice.
- The resulting product is taken in one tbsp. spoon three times a day.
The use of aloe is associated with the use of the juice of this plant. It is believed that the most useful properties are concentrated in it. You can make juice like this:
- Cut the fattest lower leaves.
- Rinse them thoroughly under running water.
- Cut into very small pieces.
- Take a clean gauze, put the whole mass into it.
- Squeeze the juice through a cloth into a prepared container.
Reviews of lovers of natural treatment indicate that you can skip the leaves through a meat grinder, and then also squeeze the juice from the resulting mass through gauze.
For respiratory infections
We present instructions for the use of aloe in the case of diseases, pathologies of the upper respiratory tract:
- Cough. A useful vitamin solution counteracts this unpleasant symptom. Mix 25 g of aloe juice, 25 g of lingonberry juice, 10 g of honey. The resulting composition is taken in two tbsp. tablespoons 4 times a day.
- Runny nose and sinusitis. Instructions for use aloe advises the use of plant extract as drops for the nose. Juice is instilled 2 drops in each nostril four times a day. Do not be afraid if the procedure causes active sneezing. This helps to more effectively release the sinuses from the accumulated mucus. The result is breathing relief, relieving inflammation.
- Pharyngitis and tonsillitis. One Art. a spoon of plant juice is diluted in a glass of drinking water (200 ml). The resulting solution is gargled several times a day.
- Bronchial asthma. With this disease, a solution of the following components will be quite effective: 1/2 cup aloe juice, 1/2 cup honey, 0.5 liter of cahors, juice of four lemons, 2 egg shells powdered. All components are thoroughly mixed, after which the composition is infused for exactly a week in a cool and darkened place. The drug is taken in 30 g daily in the morning on an empty stomach. The course of therapy lasts from 3 to 6 months.
With cardiovascular diseases
Reviews on the use of aloe in a number of heart and vascular diseases are positive. Therefore, we present several common folk recipes:
- With myocardial infarction. The first step is to prepare a healing broth from the following ingredients: 3 tablespoons of your favorite dried fruit in 1/2 cup of water. The mass is poured with water and adjusted in a sealed container until the fruit swells. Then add 2 tbsp. tablespoons of aloe juice, mix thoroughly. The broth can be drunk during the day in small sips.
- With pain in the heart. In combination with the main therapy, you can use healthy tea. Its ingredients are: 1 tbsp. spoon of strawberry leaves, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of hawthorn fruit, 1 tbsp. spoon of aloe juice, honey can be added to taste. Berries and leaves are poured in a thermos with boiling water. Masses are allowed to infuse for some time. After a day, the composition is filtered through gauze, a colander, combined with aloe juice. Take tea in a glass at night. Store the liquid in a cold place - a single dose can be heated in another bowl. Treatment takes about a week.
For pain
Indications for use of aloe - pain of various nature. Consider the most common recipes:
- Headache, migraine, dizziness. The juice of the plant is rubbed into whiskey.
- Toothache. Cut a piece of the stem of the plant, rinse it. Remove the thorns, cut into two parts. Apply the pulp to the aching gum.
With eye diseases
Reviews indicate that the recipe is effective even in the treatment of cataracts. Need 1 tbsp. spoon of aloe juice and 1 tbsp. a spoon of honey.
The resulting composition is used as an ointment. If it turned out to be liquid, then it is instilled, like ordinary eye drops.
It is also useful to make compresses with the juice of the plant, keep them in front of your eyes for 15 minutes.
For skin problems
Here the scope of the plant is unusually wide:
- Sores, cracks, age spots. At night, the skin is wiped with aloe extract or the pulp of a cut sheet.
- Black dots. You need to prepare the following composition: one egg white, 2 teaspoons of agave juice, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. The mask is applied to the face for 15 minutes. After the composition is enough to rinse with water.
- Acne. With rashes on the face, a cocktail from aloe extract with carrot juice will help. To return to the skin a healthy look allows a quarter cup of this composition, drunk daily.
- Corn. The aloe stalk is washed, freed from thorns. Then it is enough to cut it, apply the pulp to the corns, fix it with adhesive plaster. Leave the bandage overnight - the formation will soften by morning, and it can easily be removed.
- Warts. It is enough to apply leaf flesh to problem areas. Reviews confirm that sometimes 5 similar procedures are enough for unpleasant formations to disappear.
Juice, transparent pulp of aloe vera leaves, agave - you can say a healing elixir. Both in pure form and as part of injections, the plant extract will be effective in combating many diseases. There are many folk recipes with aloe, some of which we presented to you.