Happy
Tuesday everyone! While on my healthy
eating crusade I have stumbled along Aloe Vera juice. This little green bottle has been teasing me
as I line up to go through the self-serve at Coles, I’ve been so unsure about
giving it a go. I would pick up the
bottle and look at the packaging thinking “Aloe Vera juice… this is the stuff
that mum used to rub on us if we got a cut or burn, we never drank the stuff”
and would put it straight back, then finally one day I hesitantly decided to
give it a go, and I’ve almost been drinking it every day since.
The
little green bottle is full of little Aloe Vera chunks that are refreshing and
a little sweet to taste. It’s actually
quite nice to have something soft to chew when you’re drinking this juice. I really like to have my juice after lunch; I
have been finding that it gets me through the afternoon without really needing
to snack on anything else. I feel
refreshed and it soothes my stomach, which I didn’t know needed soothing until
I had my first bottle. I’ve finally
gotten around to doing my research on drinking this juice, as I haven’t really
heard a lot about it.
It
turns out that it’s quite good for you.
It would be even better in its rawest form of course, but until I can
either grow my own or find some fresh Aloe Vera at some markets, this may have
to suffice. After doing a little reading
these are the main benefits that I have found for drinking Aloe Vera juice.
- It’s really good for your digestive system: this juice encourages the bowels to move and helps with elimination. It helps with stomach cramps and has a soothing effect on the whole digestive tract. There are even reports of people who have cured or improved their symptoms of I.B.S
- It is a great pain reliever and reduces inflammation: Aloe Vera juice comes filled with mucopolysaccharides (the amino sugars needed for the regeneration of body cells), which helps to improve joint flexibility. It also assists in strengthening joint muscles which therefore reduces pain and inflammation in weakened or aged joints.
- It is a great support to the immune system: With winter around the corner, we all want to start boosting our immune systems so that we can avoid the dreaded office flu. The polysaccharides in Aloe Vera juice stimulate macrophages, these are the white blood cells that fight viruses.
- It’s really good for your skin: I know that my mum used to rub a fresh cut of Aloe Vera on cuts and burns; admittedly I thought it was a bit silly when I was younger, but she was onto something. When Aloe is applied topically to a wound, it can speed up the healing process. Also drinking the juice can help improve skin quality and complexion. It contains many nutrients and antioxidants which are vital to skin health, such as vitamin C, E and the mineral zinc. This nutrients help protect the skin from external toxins in air pollution, as well as helping to detox internal toxins. Other benefits of Aloe Vera juice for the skin include: providing proper lubrication, helping maintain the elasticity of the skin, removing dead skin cells, and helping with the regeneration of skin cells.
As soon as I get my
hands on some fresh Aloe Vera cuts, I’m going to try to make my own juice. Here is a method I have found if you want to
give it a go.
- Cut a large healthy Aloe Vera leaf off of your plant, then let the resin drip out by holding it upside down so that it drains where you cut it. The gel won’t come out, so don’t worry about that.
- Cut it in half and then filet the gel out of the inside. Just be sure you don’t get the yellow stuff that comes out near the outer skin. You could also do this by first cutting the top layer, then the sides and eventually the bottom. There’s a photo tutorial on this here that shows how to do this really well.
- Place in a blender and cover with 3 cups of fruit juice or fresh fruit and water. You can pretty much use anything you want here. Try coconut milk or almond milk if that suits your taste better.
- Blend well, chill and then serve. Refrigerate leftover juice.
This
recipe is from: http://www.thethriftymama.com/aloe-vera-juice.html
The brand
that I have been drinking is called ‘aloe
Verde aloe Vera drink’. I’ve been
buying it from my local Woolworths. Give
it a go if you’re interested, the taste will be a little different on your
first sip, but after that you’ll really enjoy the drink.
Hope you’re
choosing health over anything else
NKx
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