What are the medicinal values ​​of aloe vera?

Everyone should be familiar with the plant aloe vera. There are many varieties of aloe vera, and it is relatively easy to cultivate this plant. Many families will plant some aloe vera in their courtyards or balconies. There have been precedents of using aloe vera as medicine since ancient times. Everyone should have more or less understanding of the medicinal value of aloe vera. In this article, let us take a closer look at the medicinal value of aloe vera.

The pharmacological effects of aloe vera are recorded in detail in famous pharmacopoeias at home and abroad. Such as China's "Compendium of Materia Medica" and Europe's "Greek Materia Medica". There are also many beautiful legends about it. Legend has it that Cleopatra VII, the African queen famous for her beauty, had a mysterious magic pool that outsiders could not approach. Every midnight, she would step into the pool to bathe. The Queen's appearance has not changed at all year after year. Later, people discovered in the ruins of the declining Egyptian dynasty that the liquid in the magic pool was actually the juice of aloe vera. From this, we can infer that about four thousand years ago, humans already knew how to recognize and use aloe vera. Today, it is difficult to tell whether these beautiful legends are true or false, but businesses have made a big fuss about them, attracting countless beauty-loving women. As a result, facial cleansing, hair care, and bath products “rich in aloe vera juice” have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.

In the 4th century BC, Hippocrates, the father of medicine, recorded the clinical application of aloe vera as a laxative in his medical book. It is said that in the 4th century BC, Alexander, King of Macedonia, first occupied the island of Soctra, the origin of aloe vera, and obtained a large amount of strategic reserve materials - aloe vera. He used the aloe vera there to treat the wounded soldiers, and the wounded soldiers with festering wounds recovered quickly. When soldiers are not used to foreign diets, they use aloe vera as a beverage to adjust their diet. Later, Emperor Alexander established a great empire spanning Europe, Asia and Africa, and legend has it that aloe vera made a huge contribution to this. In 333 BC, the emperor ordered the large-scale planting of aloe vera on the island. "Sukquan Aloe" is still recorded in the pharmacopoeia of many countries.

From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, aloe vera is bitter and cold in nature, and belongs to the liver meridian and large intestine meridian. It has the functions of purgation, clearing the liver, and killing insects. It can be used for heat-stagnation constipation, liver meridian fire, and infantile malnutrition. It can also treat various diseases such as gastric and duodenal ulcers, diabetes, and hypertension. It contains hundreds of chemical components, and more than 70 of them have been clearly studied. Its pharmacological effects include: bactericidal, anti-inflammatory, beauty, laxative, cardiotonic, anti-tumor, and anti-allergic effects. Especially in recent years, aloe vera has achieved remarkable therapeutic effects on many difficult-to-treat diseases in medicine, such as AIDS, diabetes, leukemia, and cancer. Its effects in health products and cosmetics have prompted the research and development of aloe vera into a new era. However, although aloe vera is good, taking it more is not necessarily better.

In general, the medicinal value of aloe vera is worthy of recognition. With the advancement of medicine, the use of aloe vera in the medical field is becoming more and more extensive. However, since aloe vera is cold in nature, you should also pay attention to the amount when taking it, otherwise it is easy to cause vomiting and diarrhea. Pregnant women, the elderly and children should be more cautious when consuming aloe vera.