07 Jul 2021
How much aloe juice to drink daily and how long does it take to work?
A quick recap on aloe juice
If you’re reading this article, there’s a good chance that you’ve already heard something about aloe vera juice.
Before we dive into the nitty gritty of taking aloe vera juice regularly, let’s have a quick recap on why aloe is so good for you.
Aloe vera juice is special because it contains myriad micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids and polysaccharides with beneficial health effects.
Aloe juice contains vitamins A (as beta-carotene), B12, C and E as well as folic acid and choline.(1)
It’s even more impressive for its mineral content, which comprises calcium, chromium, copper, selenium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium and zinc. Not bad for one plant!
However, many of aloe’s health effects are attributed to micronutrients which are less well-known to most of us. Several of them have properties which fight infections and inflammation, which may be why aloe has such a reputation for being soothing and healing.
The gel part of the aloe plant contains plant steroids such as cholesterol, campesterol and lupeol, all of which act as anti-inflammatories.(1)
Meanwhile saponins, which make up about 3% of aloe vera gel (and give it a slightly slippery texture) have antiseptic properties.(1)
https://youtu.be/m6RYscU70VI
What are aloe vera’s health benefits?
Luckily, we have a whole article you can check out on aloe vera’s health benefits.
Here, we’ll limit ourselves to a reminder that aloe is linked with skin healing, supporting your natural immunity, acting as an antioxidant and fighting off infection from bacteria and viruses.
If you drink aloe vera juice regularly, you can count on a hearty dose of all those vitamins, minerals and healthy micronutrients which will help support your overall wellbeing.
What’s more, aloe might even be able to help you squeeze more nutritional value out of the other foods you eat.
One study looked at whether aloe could help people better absorb other micronutrients. The researchers found that aloe vera gel (from which aloe juice is made) increased the absorption of both vitamin C and E by over 300%. They recommended that aloe vera gel be taken as a complement to these vitamins.(2)
Is aloe vera juice a laxative?
Aloe vera has a reputation as a laxative because of substances called anthraquinones. These encourage your intestine to push food through to your gut more quickly and also increases the amount of water in your system, helping to smooth the journey.(1)
Anthraquinones are found in the latex part of the plant. This is the yellow, sap-like substance you can find under the outer rind of the plant.
Some brands of aloe juice available on the market do contain this sap. This type of aloe juice will be labelled as ‘whole leaf’ juice.
However others, such as Erbology Organic Aloe Vera Juice, are made only with the part of the plant known as the ‘inner leaf’.
This refers to the translucent gel in the centre of the aloe leaf. The green outer rind and the yellow latex are both removed.
As such, this type of juice is a great option if you’re keen to get the nutritional benefits of aloe, but want to avoid its rather potent effects on your digestive system.
What to look for in aloe juice
We have a few tips to help you choose the best quality aloe vera juice.
Firstly, make sure your aloe is organic. Many of us drink aloe vera juice to support our overall health and wellbeing, so it’s important to make sure the product doesn’t contain pesticides or chemicals. Many people are keen to avoid artificial preservatives; our aloe juice does contain 0.2% citric acid and this is a completely natural method of improving aloe juice’s shelf life.
Next, choose your preference of whole leaf or inner leaf juice. This will depend somewhat on the effects you hope to see. For long term use, we recommend the inner leaf juice as it is gentler on your system but still contains all those healthy nutrients.
If you’re able to, try and find out about any other measures the producer takes to produce high quality aloe juice.
For example, at Erbology we only use aloe plants which are more than three years old. This is because younger aloe plants don’t have such a high concentration of beneficial nutrients.
Many aloe juice brands also add sugar to their product. We recommend avoiding this; there’s no health benefit, only extra calories and opportunities for tooth decay!
Similarly, check for added water or other types of fruit juice (such as apple or orange). This will only serve to dilute aloe’s health benefits, so make sure your product is undiluted.
Finally, look for a product with a high level of compounds called acemannan polysaccharides. We’ll explain a bit more about them below.
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