Aloe is a trendy word in the holistic wellness world right now. While most of us have become familiar with aloe through using it as a gel for sunburns, we’re starting to catch on to what our ancestors seemed to know hundreds, even thousands of years ago- that aloe is also wonderfully effective at helping heal the gut.
Many inflammatory skin conditions, including acne, have been directly linked to imbalanced gut microbes. Acne on the lower half of the face especially is associated with gut inflammation. While there are many factors that play into gut issues and the proper treatments for them, in this article I’m going to cover the benefits of aloe and how you can use it to help heal your gut.
What is aloe?
Aloe is a green cactus-like plant with a clear gelatinous center. The Aloe Vera plant has been regarded over the years as “the plant of immortality” because of it’s healing properties. It has many uses in the worlds of beauty, medicine, and skin care.
I first heard about using aloe for gut healing when I saw a functional medicine doctor for chronic reflux. He told me to drink aloe juice every morning on an empty stomach, and I noticed almost immediate relief. Over the years as I researched how to heal my leaky gut, I came to learn that using gelatinous herbs like aloe is a critical part of the gut-healing process.
While aloe has many uses both topical and internally, in this article I’ll be addressing the internal use of aloe for the purpose of gut healing.
What are the benefits of taking aloe internally?
- It helps repair the tight junctions of the gut lining.
Have you ever heard the term “leaky gut”? It’s a less fancy name for what’s known as Enhanced Intestinal Permeability, where the intestinal lining is compromised and lets food and other particles (that should only remain in the gut) through it’s walls and into the bloodstream. In other words, it “leaks”. This can create many adverse effects in the body, including food sensitivities, arthritis symptoms, and chronic inflammation, among others.
Leaky gut can be caused by a number of issues, including stress, poor diet, and acute infections- and once you have it, you must work to repair it in order to prevent a cascade of undesirable symptoms in the body. Aloe vera, along with other gelatinous foods such as slippery elm, gelatin and marshmallow root, have been well studied in their ability to heal the tight junctions of the gut. When included in a gut healing protocol, aloe can be an amazing aid!
Healing leaky gut is a multiple step process that looks slightly different for each individual, but there is a general guide you can follow. I’ve put together a gut-healing guide (complete with a sample meal plan) that incorporates the use of aloe that you can download for free here.
- It soothes and calms gut inflammation.
Many of us suffer from gut inflammation. From reflux to bloating, gas, cramping, diarrhea and constipation, gut issues abound in our society due to high stress levels and poor diet, among other reasons. Inflammation is characterized by symptoms of swelling, heat, pain, redness, and loss of function. Think about when you scrape your knee- the skin around it turns red, it can feel hot and painful, and it might swell. This is your body’s healing mechanisms at work, and it’s a good thing! Unfortunately when it comes to gut inflammation, because many of the things that cause it are basic lifestyle habits, our guts can remain in a state of chronic low-grade inflammation. And this wreaks havoc on our health!
Fortunately, aloe is a wonderful way to help soothe the inflammation. While it’s not a complete gut fix in and of itself, it can provide rapid relief of some gut symptoms because of it’s cooling and anti-inflammatory effects. It’s been shown to clinically reduce the effects of gastro-intestinal reflux disease (GERD), helping relieve acidity due to it’s alkaline properties. While we do want strong stomach acid for digestion, this can at least provide natural relief while you work on healing your gut.
- It helps balance gut bacteria.
Did you know that you have ten times more gut bacteria in your body than you do human cells? In order to have a healthy gut, you need to have robust and diverse gut bacteria. They play some pretty essential roles in your body, such as supplying essential nutrients, aiding in digestion, supporting nerve function, and more. Your gut is a delicately balanced ecosystem with different bacteria working harmoniously with each other for the protection and health of your body. However, things can go wrong when this bacteria gets out of balance due to things like stress, poor diet, illness, infection or antibiotics. When things get out of balance, bacteria that are normally beneficial can overgrow and wreak havoc. This is how we end up with conditions like candida overgrowth, h. Pylori and Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth (SIBO), then conditions like these can cascade into worse issues like arthritis, cancer, obesity, and many other chronic diseases.
Needless to say, keeping your gut bacteria in balance in crucial to your health! There are many habits that help maintain a balanced ecosystem. Managing your stress and eating fresh whole foods and limiting processed foods are the most important lifestyle habits for this, but if your gut is already out of balance you probably need a little more support for healing, such as prebiotic and probiotic supplements. This is where aloe can be very beneficial! It functions as a prebiotic, meaning it supports and induces the growth of beneficial probiotics. If you’re taking a probiotic, taking aloe along with it will help it do it’s job better.
Along with this pretty impressive list of what aloe can do, here are a couple more clinically evident benefits:
-Aloe has antioxidant properties helping to fight cancer-causing free radicals.
-Aloe supports our metabolism and fights obesity by helping us become more sensitive to insulin.
Overall, aloe is a very powerful plant that can do a lot for our gut! Now let’s get into how you can begin using it.
3 ways to use aloe for gut healing
- Drink aloe vera juice.
Drinking 1/4 cup of aloe juice in the morning on an empty stomach is a great way to start the day with a calm gut. If you struggle from acid reflux, this can be very relieving. You can buy aloe vera juice at your local health food store or online. When choosing what kind to buy, always make sure to buy “inner leaf” or “inner fillet” aloe, as whole leaf can be irritating to the gut and cause diarrhea. The kind I personally use and love is this one by Lily Of The Desert.
2. Use it in a powder blend.
There are many powders out there for gut healing that include aloe among other healing ingredients like glutamine. These are great to add into smoothies or even just mixed with water. I particularly love this one by Metagenics.
3. Fillet it yourself and put it in a smoothie.
That’s right, if you have an aloe plant in your home you can cut it up yourself, remove the clear jelly part from inside the leaf and eat it! You can put it in a smoothie, mix it into a glass over water, or you can even cook it. Here’s a great articlethat goes over the different ways you can prepare aloe.
Overall, aloe could be a wonderful addition to your wellness routine for gut support. I encourage you to try it if you haven’t!
Now I’d love to hear from you. Have you tried aloe? Would you try it? Let me know in the comments!
Sources:
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