Is Aloe Vera Juice Your Cup of Tea?

Mom buys the fattest aloe vera to simmer with rock sugar, then serves it hot like...tea. Sigh...I have to pinch my nose with two fingers to gulp down that stuff.

On certain days, I have a good excuse to decline mom's "aloe tea" by saying:" Sorry, can't drink it. Today's my menstruation day." Now, don't wag your fingers to tell my mom that cooked aloes may have lost their potent effects on the uterus. Shhh.

I would rather eat the aloe raw than simmered, always careful to avoid it during menstruation because I do not need to increase the blood flow. I know some ladies who have trickling flow may need it but not me, no! No!

Today is the day I can eat aloe. I cut the biggest leaf in the pot with a kitchen knife. As I slice the aloe cross-section, a yellowish juice flows out. This is the 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 people, a person who is no longer young like me, has hypotonic constipation which means to lax bowel movements. Bitter aloes, the only part of the aloe which has laxative properties, is the remedy in my case.

That's why bitter aloes is made into pills and sold as a laxative in pharmacies in some countries, for example Germany.

Oozing bitter aloes

Since I have made the effort to cut this aloe leaf, it is a waste to leave out the transparent fleshy part famous for helping Cleopatra to conquer two powerful men in succession. This part is called aloe gel or aloe juice. I don't like to put raw aloe gel on my skin as it stinks. It's better for me to swallow it together with the bitter aloes.

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. Ah...according to the holistic people ( again ), the mucilaginous aloe gel soothes the digestive tract of hypertonic constipation sufferers.

I believe I am not hypertonic. I am hoping though, to strengthen my immunity system by consuming a substance in the aloe gel called acemanan, speculated to enable my body to fight against cancer and AIDS. Might as well try to kill two birds with one stone.

Gulp! I swallow a piece of honeyed raw aloe. Coming to think of it, there are many things I cannot be in order to take the slimy yucky bitter aloes orally : I cannot be under 12 years of age, I cannot be pregnant, I cannot have hemorrhoids, I cannot take more than 0.5g per day etc...

I let a few more slimy aloes down my esophagus and chuckle as I think about warnings against taking aloe vera orally everyday. They say too much of aloes can damage my health. True...but the same truth also applies to taking too much carrots, papayas and rice. I like variety in my diet and aloe vera is a convenient home remedy from the yard.

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