How Does Aloe Vera Relieve Constipation?

Oozing bitter aloes

" Does aloe vera pill help with IBS constipation? I have had IBS/C for too long. Am now taking two fiber products and a pill ...Maybe this stuff could help?"

According to Digestive Disorders 2007: Johns Hopkins White Papers, Volume 1 by Sergey Kantsevoy, a study conducted in 2006 showed little difference between IBS patients randomly assigned to take aloe vera and the placebo group. The book however, recommends capsule or pill form instead of juice to avoid components in the aloe that could cause cramping and diarrhea.

It seems that diarrhea predominant IBS and alternating patients responded better to aloe vera which may pave the way to further tests in the future.

I slice an aloe vera leaf cross-section, yellowish juice oozes out from beneathe the green skin.

This is the aloe latex also called bitter aloes. The name indicates its taste. All I need is only 0.1 g of the bitter aloes to enjoy a pleasant toilet visit the next day.

According to holistic medicine, a person who is no longer young like me, has hypotonic constipation which means lax bowel movements. Bitter aloes is the remedy in my case.

Aloe latex contains potent laxatives - the anthraquinone glycosides aloin A and B.* Aloe vera is 99 per cent water and this means the laxatives are just less than 1 per cent of the aloe power house. Aloe latex is eaten with the transparent gel to tackle severe constipation. It can be added to fruit juice to cover up the unpleasant bitterness.

If circumstances do not permit you to grow aloe vera, you most likely have to buy aloe products. From what I can gather, most aloe products do not contain the latex which is understandable due to its strong effects and side effects.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned aloe latex as an ingredient in over the counter laxatives since May 9, 2002. There must have been silly people who purged themselves to the point of cramping and diarrhea. However, in other places, the latex is dried and made into pills. I think Germany and China are among those places.

I said " I THINK " because, the term "aloe juice" has two meanings. Some define aloe juice as aloe latex/ bitter aloes while others refer to aloe juice as the blended transparent aloe gel. So if you were buying "100 per cent organic dried aloe juice", read the small prints carefully.

People who want a gentler constipation relief can let the aloe leaves stand for a while to drain the aloe latex, then wash the bitter sap and consume only the transparent gel to enhance secretion of digestive enzymes, balance acid in the stomach and regulate sugar and fat metabolism.

Aloe vera flower©Leisimo

The mucopolysaccharides also protect the lining of the GI tract from harmful microorganisms and prevent entrance of toxins.

Mucopolysaccarides of more molecules in their long sugar chain up to 9000, are said to treat cancer and even AIDS. Especially the mucopolysaccharides acemannan a.k.a acetylated mannans or mucilaginous polysaccharides, emodin, and lectins are often mentioned to have such healing potentials. However, these claims have not been substantiated by scientific studies. Whatever study reports floating around are contradictory.

Points of interest in the aloe and cancer story : Injection of aloe has killed faster than cancer. According to Mayo clinic, aloe shows "early evidence that oral aloe may reduce the risk of developing lung cancer." Mayo also said that consumption of aloe for over a year had been reported to increase the risk of colorectal cancer.This manufacturer claims that yeast-derived beta glucan is a better immuno-stimulant, and, the real cancer fighter in aloe is actually aloeride. Sometimes, a manufacturer may remove mucopolysaccharides from an aloe product to enhance shelf life!

I myself have plenty of reservation about the aloe cancer cure claims. Aloe for cancer? hmmm ...Aloe for lowering cholesterol, yes. Aloe for arthritis, yes. Cathy Hickman of www.foods-that-heal.com will tell you more on this.

aloe vera flower © tonrulkens,flickr.

While I stick to aloe for constipation, yes!

I mentioned hypotonic constipation at the onset. The opposite of hypotonic constipation is hypertonic constipation which means the digestive tract suffers spasms due to accelerated peristalsis. While hypotonic is common among the older ones, hypertonic plagues the younger population.

Mucilaginous aloe vera gel soothes the digestive tract of hypertonic constipation sufferers, including irritable bowel syndrome. How do some folks who have IBS feel about the effects of aloe?

"I use 8 0z of aloe vera juice every day. Never has caused diarrhea and in fact helps with gas and bloating for me and I tend to have more or less one 'normal' BM everyday...I don't know how much latex this brand has in it but it tastes like water...no bitterness whatsoever."

"I suffer terrible with IBS, predominantly constipation and take aloe vera in tablet form ... and it's brilliant stuff."

Then there's a story of a Norwegian lady in her fifties. She has been wheelchair bound due to a long history of back pain, slipped disc and three unsuccessful operations. She gradually learnt to put up with the debilitating excruciating back pain but the constipation as a consequence of her state of involuntary sedentary life style and pain killers was unbearable. She was always bloated and feeling unwell despite increasing her laxative tablets to 30 daily.

She started with a very small dosage of aloe vera juice, gradually increased to 90 ml per day. She also incorporated acupressure and abdominal massage to the aloe juice regime. A month later, she started to experience improvement. She stuck to this regime for two years. Her daily laxative tablets went down to 3.#

Personally, aloe gives me slight discomfort. Some people even have cramps from it, in this case, they can try to take aloe with ginger/turmeric.

Ladies should note that aloe increases blood flow during menstruation. It depends on " how much flow " a woman wants from her aloe consumption. Aloe has been an Indian remedy for women who have only trickle every month. According to homeopathic, aloe can cause women in menopause stage to have menstrual cycles again! Ruth M. Friesen a veteran of aloe, experienced improvement in bowel movements and her " retired uterus" was on the way " back to business" as well. Please visit aloe-vera-and-handy-herbs.com to read her cute narration.

Mayo clinic advises not to give aloe vera to children under 18 years of age. Traditional Chinese Medicine recommends 1 g per dosage in capsule form. A product called Aloeride claims it is safe for children and pregnant women because the purgative anthraquinone glycosides are removed!

*Anthraquinone glycosides are also found in senna leaves, cascara sagrada and alder buckthorn.

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