Uses & Health Benefits of Aloe Vera

For thousands of years the Aloe Vera has been used to treat a variety of health conditions. We're going to take a look at how you can harvest your Aloe plant to take advantage of its health benefits.

Harvesting the plant:

First off, to get all benefits, make sure you're harvesting a mature pant. Mature plants are typically a few years old and have a higher concentration of active ingredients. 

Here's how to harvest the plant...

1. Inspect your plant. Make sure there isn't any mold or bugs on the leaves.
2. Find 3-4 healthy leaves from your Aloe. We recommend using the thickest leaves to get the most nutrients.
3. With a sharp knife or scissors, carefully remove the leaves as close to the stem as possible. The majority of the plants nutrients are near the stem so it's important to get as close to the base as possible.
4. Rinse and dry the removed leaves.
5. Now it's time to separate the outer skin from the gel inside. With a knife or your fingers pull off the outer skin.
6. Allow an excess liquid to drain off the plant and now you should have just the nutrient filled Aloe gel.

Uses of fresh Aloe Vera gel:

Aloe Vera is commonly used in skin care products, food, and juices. If you plant on eating/drinking your fresh Aloe gel, it will need to be refrigerated and should be consumed asap after harvesting.

Healing Burns

A study done in 2013, showed that people who used Aloe Vera gel to treat skin burns healed quicker than people who used other healing products. This plant is great, inexpensive, alternative to quickly heal and relief pain from skin burns. Aloe Vera is commonly used to help treat sun burn, or any mild burns. 

Improves Oral Health

Aloe Vera mouthwash and toothpaste are great natural alternatives to improving your oral health.

Clears Acne

There any many Aloe based skin products designed specifically for acne. Products made with Aloe tend to be less skin irritating that traditional acne treating products.

While Aloe Vera gel is generally safe to the majority of people, you may react to the plant differently. If you have any healthy conditions or currently take medication, it's important to contact your doctor before trying Aloe gel.