Paleo Diet: Raw Paleo Diet and Lifestyle Forum
Raw Paleo Diet to Suit You => Omnivorous Raw Paleo Diet => Topic started by: goodsamaritan on February 13, 2012, 10:29:09 pm
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Hi everyone,
Please share your experiences eating aloe vera gel? aloe vera juice?
Yesterday I chanced upon commercial Korean aloe vera juice. I'm wondering if you guys make your own juice, or just eat aloe vera gel by itself.
Looking at it from a healing gut inflammations thing, leaky gut thing to nutrition.
Please share your experiences with aloe vera.
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Didn't work for me when I had those awful gut problems pre-RPD diet.
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The stuff tastes just awful in its fresh, raw state. Maybe it would taste better if it were grown on good soil.
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I love aloe juice. I hate peeling it, because it is very slow and seems to waste a lot of precious aloe. I like to blend it together with a grapefruit, if you mix it with and orange it tastes like an orange Julius, but I'm avoiding sugar in oranges. I leave as much of the white on the citrus too. I was thinking of trying it with lemon, and maybe sea salt.
GS, if you know a good way to peel aloe I would enjoy one of your nice instructional videos. I haven't had it in years, but I was soothing for my belly. I have tried many cooked aloe preparations and never liked or noticed any benefit from them. I know there is a raw version, but aloe seems delicate so I assume it would be more potent fresh, but it is expensive and comes in plastic, so I've not tried it.
I noticed a gentle cleansing it feels like a blood purifier and a hydrater. I will buy 2 large leaves later this week. I will have one plain, because I've been enjoying noticing the effects of one food at a time and the other with lemon/salt. I will report.
I think it will be good fresh and raw, bitter, but I like slimy and bitter, not everybody does.
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I used this method to get the gel out of the aloe vera leaf:
Step 1: with a knife, slice the spiny edge off both sides of the leaf and discard the edges;
Step 2: using your fingers or a knife, peel open the inner and outer part of the leaf;
Step 3: using a spoon or knife, scrape out the gel into a container, or just spoon it into your mouth;
Step 4: (cute GS video version) get your children to make googly eyes and chant, "Aloe vera leaf is alive... aloe vera leaf is still breathing..."
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The gel (flesh) is good for calming mild stomach ache/indigestion instantly.
The peel (blended in a blender) is good for relieving constipation.
The plant is very easy to grow at a warm sunny spot.
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This evening I cut up a big aloe vera leaf and ate some of it plain. It didn't taste good.
So I put a lot of the cut up pieces in the commercial aloe vera juice.
Tasted tolerable.
Made me realize that commercial aloe juice is just artificial everything.
Maybe there is some aloe vera in them.
I also experimented putting some aloe vera gel on my son's arm. And some on my arm. I'll experiment with a spot on my face later.
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I don't know if it really did anything for me, but aloe vera mixed with grapefruit juice is pretty good.
Also there's a health food store that sells a couple different ones. One of them is just straight up juice and it's tolerable but I suspect there's not much to it after the processing.
The other one I buy once in a while when I'm out and about and thirsty- it has a couple different juices and the aloe vera is all in pulp form- it's kinda weird to drink but tastes awesome and felt really amazing when I had a sore throat. So there may be something to it.
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I normally buy Aloe Vera leaf and eat the "jello" you can find inside. I mix it with honey and it's not that bad. I also use it as a face and hand mask. I store it in a glass jar in the fridge.
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i used fresh aloe vera gel straight from the plant and for my skin and as refreshment when i worked and spent all sun lit hours under then sun in arizona (clear sky...100 degree days every day) and must say if i ever felt the tinge of sun burn it was quickly alleviated by the gel. fresh leaves are always best and most medicinal to sooth many irritations of the skin. on a weird random note, one of my farm mates was using heroine, as well as suffering from aids and hepatitus while on the farm and he would DEVOUR massive amounts of aloe as well as miso paste........his intuitive way of detoxing his body?
basically i would just slice open the plant and rub the inner goo all over...to eat i would just eat inside the skin, no peeling or extraction method necessary
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I just did the same as you Jessica. It was good in a way. I wanted it. I ate about 1/2 the leaf in one sitting. Then the rest the next.
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I have used a rolling pin to get the Aloe Vera juice from the leaf. It gets most of the gel out and doesn't create such a mess.
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I have aloe arborenscens plants. Read book - major cancer cure. There are many species of aloe
Monk in small town where no one ever gets cancer because periodically everyone takes it as a preventative wrote the book.
They use a mixture of aloe arborenscens paste from leaves harvested and prepared in the dark (at least infrared) as light dramatically affects it at a certain moon cycle, mixed with raw honey and whiskey in specific ratios. The honey and whiskey are important ingredients for reasons not necessary to get into here.
I've cut these leaves like Eve does and applied it like Jessica to skin after sun or just as a healing balm. I think it feels better than aloe vera actually. So very good for the skin. Recently husband I got sunburned real bad. I put aloe on him right away but not me. He healed up nicely and quickly whereas I was in pain for many days and peeled where he didn't.
Aloe vera is also considered a potent anti-cancer herb - but not doesn't have the reputation of arborenscens. Arborenscens is a gorgeous plant too. :D
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Non-tasty. No, did not like.
Grows wild in Florida and is related to agave. Aloe gets big, but flower stalks don't get more than about 4' tall. Agave stalks can get more than 12'.
Both taste rather nasty, IMO, even wild.
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I was just going to make a thread on Aloe Vera because I just recently got an aloe vera plant from my uncle, so now I have my own aloe vera plant. My uncle is very much into eating naturally and organically and has a whole bunch of stuff he grows himself in his backyard including chickens for eggs which are really good, so I'm sure he grew my aloe vera plant on good soil.
I was just wondering if the aloe vera was safe to eat completely raw though, I wasn't sure lol, but I see a few people here have eaten it straight raw so I guess it is fine.. I haven't eaten any of my aloe vera yet, but I have been putting the gel on my face everyday hoping it will help heal my acne scars and wounds. I don't know if it's the aloe vera, or the eggs I've been eating that I got from my uncle, or maybe both, but it seems to be helping a little. I might try eating a little bit of the leaf next, though I don't know how well that will work out because I don't really like bitter things usually, and I don't want to eat a lot because my plant isn't very big either.
By the way, does anyone know the best way to raise aloe vera? I'm pretty much just keeping it in my bathroom with my other plant and watering it randomly(only going to water it with bottled water, I don't trust tap water).. I don't know how to take care of plants, lol.
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Aloe loves sun, it thrives in desert environments, like pretty much all succulents. You might want to give it more sun.
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Actually - not all aloes like too much direct sun. Here they much prefer to have some shade. What can really hurt them though is too much water.
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I'm glad you started this post. I really like plain aloe now. I buy the big leaves and eat about half in a sitting. I just peel the easy side and slide the meat/gel off the skin with my teeth. Then, rub the last bit into my skin.
Really love it. Thanks
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A coconut husk mulch works great for growing aloe. Lots of sunshine fresh air rainwater and good drainage. Cut the leaf when the moon is waning for less bitterness and to be nicer to your plant. The flower is lovely! Blend inner gel with fresh lemon and white rind and local unheated honey to drink for lungs and constipation. Do not drink if you are weak and ill. Apply gel to skin for sunburn. Do not..if you have serious reactions to anything. Aloe is fantastic..but Ive seen dangerous and awful reactions in a few from both and either topical/internal fresh plant "done right".
Ive seen similar leaves used to reduce pain in cancer patients by slicing the leaf flatwise..making shallow crisscross. Cuts in the gel..and strapping it to the afflicted part.. aloe skinside out.
I tried that drink! Its from some exotic fruit. I forget the name. Yes..tasted good!
I don't know if it really did anything for me, but aloe vera mixed with grapefruit juice is pretty good.
Also there's a health food store that sells a couple different ones. One of them is just straight up juice and it's tolerable but I suspect there's not much to it after the processing.
The other one I buy once in a while when I'm out and about and thirsty- it has a couple different juices and the aloe vera is all in pulp form- it's kinda weird to drink but tastes awesome and felt really amazing when I had a sore throat. So there may be something to it.
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Please share your experiences eating aloe vera gel? aloe vera juice?
Useless! Did nothing for me.
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I also consider aloe leave for external use only. The taste is ridiculously awful -v. watermelon or any melons r the better substitute of aloe. I consider eating this, if i get lost in a forest and nothing to eat or drink, I will pick up aloe gladly.
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Save your money. I tried it for my UC and didn't notice a difference. Try Raw eggs for the gut.... It really works if you can get past the taste.
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Didn't even realize gs was the op. I thought you had all the answers ;-)
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Dude, how can you dislike eggs? It's like butter in a shell. Are you buying shitty eggs?
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Grassfed eggs are expensive and hard to come by. I am very poor.
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Oh no wonderrrrrr. Yuck dude.
Anyway, are you near any farms you can volunteer at in exchange for produce?
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I grow aloe vera plant at home, and make juice by myself. but i don't drink it on it's own, I usually either mix it with some other juice and add sugar, or I make cocktails for lunch :) for example this one is my favourite (the similar cocktail is described here) - aloe vera juice, milk, orange juice, chocolate extract and ice. I also like the taste of bottled aloe vera juice, but not freshly made, that's why I mix it with other ingredients.
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Been drinking it daily, first I had this organic brand and it was a clear white tasted like gatorade, pretended to be all so mighty healthy and organic. So I bought another brand and it actually taste like aloe vera with a very deep brown color, clearly this new one has NOTHING to do with that gatorade crap I had. In any case I can't see if it helps or not, I think a good diet work better then any "super" food.
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I've been eating aloe vera gel extracted directly from the inside of the leaf, and so far, I don't know what you guys were talking about, about the taste. It doesn't have a taste. It's really slimy, but no taste at all. It's like water. I even ate a tiny bit of a thin part of a leaf, and also pretty much no discernible taste, not anything strong or bitter at least. If anything it had a very mild resemblance to cucumber.
I heard it may be that certain leaves are bitter and others are not, depending on whether they curve inward or outward, or something like that. I don't know if it's true or not. I get the leaves already cut for me and maybe they're only selling me the ones that aren't bitter. Or maybe I've been lucky so far.
Does anyone know the nutritional and/or health/healing/energetic effects/properties of eating aloe vera gel and/or leaves and/or juice? Also the nutritional info would be nice if anyone can find it, I wasn't able to.
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Aloe vera is a well-known laxative.
Try the usda nutrient database, they might have an entry for aloe vera.
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I tried, but they don't.
Are you sure the gel is a laxative? It didn't have that effect on me. I heard there's a part near the stem of the leaf where the laxative is, but not in the rest of the leaf/gel?
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No, it is an all-round laxative. Here is a study on the health benefits of aloe vera:-
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92765/ (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92765/)
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I live in San Diego, California. And there is a species of Alovera that grows like a weed all over the coast. I have a few plants in my backyard. I have eaten the gel before a few times and it don't remember it having much of a taste at all. The last time i ate it i got really bad stomach aches/cramps and never did again. I use it mainly to topically apply to the skin if i get a cut or bad sun burn.
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I don't think aloe was meant to be eaten, the plant tries to warn you with its terrible taste.
What other animals related to us in nature eat Aloe?
Its suppose to be outright poisonous to cats and dogs...http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/aloe-vera/ (http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/aloe-vera/)
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I don't know what kind of aloe vera you're eating, but like I said, the one I tried doesn't have a taste at all in the gel, and the leaf, if anything, has a very, very mild cucumber-like flavor. Also, fish guts taste absolutely horrible, but I'm sure they have some healthy nutrients in them. I hear similar reports on high meat (which I haven't tried yet)
In general, plants which have spines are better to eat once you remove the spines than those that don't. Spines are a physical form of deterring animals from eating them, whereas plants without spines must resort to naturally produced chemicals that are poisonous to animals.
A lot of things are poisonous to cats and dogs, because they're mainly carnivores, whereas we're omnivores. I hear even chocolate can kill dogs.
It could still be that it's a bad idea to eat aloe vera in particular, however.
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the big stuff that grows in the desert is actually kind of tasty, especially if you are parched, i think there are many varieties of the plant, perhaps some are more palatable than others, and it might depend on if they are growing in a natural environment or not . i dont think its a staple food but it definitely has its medicinal uses and benefits.
have you ever been to the desert derek? everything has spines and thorns, especially the juicer and more delicious plants and fruits...
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I also wanted to add that sometimes pets such as dogs and cats will willingly eat plants (or dirt) they can't digest as a way to purge themselves of some toxin.
The general view is that animals are dumb and they will eat anything in nature even if it will kill them. I don't think that's necessarily how it works. I think if you have an aloe vera plant and your cat or dog eats a bunch of it, it probably has a reason to do it. Especially if it's already done it in the past and repeats the behavior.
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I always recall aloe vera tasting very bitter. Perhaps it is a matter of different varieties.
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maybe different varieties and nutritional needs?
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There are over 300 species of aloe vera. I think only a couple are edible, some sites say there's only one.
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The point Im trying to make is that there is some anti-nutrient content in aloe which may mitigate some of its alleged healing properties.
I am speaking from experience.... I have had raw aloe plant and drank bottled organic food grade aloe products and I found them distasteful, without any benefit, and even slightly noxious.
There are people who are sold on the stuff as having internally healing properties, and perhaps for people on neolithic diets who are internally congested with toxic crap, it may have some mild cleansing/soothing effect......but for people like myself who have a more carnivorous gut ecology which more resembles a dog than it does a desert herbivore I would advise caution be used when consuming aloe.
Also for people with damaged digestive capacity they may indeed lack the same capacity as cats and dogs to enzymatically break down the anti nutrients in aloe..... much in the same way some people have intolerances to many other foods which humans are allegedly able to consume which dogs and cats arent
Being finicky as a feline with past stomach issues, I have developed a sensitivity to food which goes beyond the simple taste reflex. Although things like high meat and fish smoothies are not the most appealing, after consuming them I feel good... aloe on the other hand may not be the worse tasting stuff out there, but after I consume it I get a feeling in my gut that tells me this stuff isn't good for me.
Anecdotally speaking the people I have known who have used aloe for long periods of time do not seem to have any observable benefit from it, and as for its alleged ability to heal and nourish when taken internally, I dare to claim that my stomach smoothie would be much more effective in rebuilding and rejuvenating the bodies tissues.
Ultimately in debates such as these one must use your own judgement(after all there is no sense in arguing over taste)
People who consume aloe and feel that it is beneficial then who am I to say "its not" all I ask is that for people to develop a deeper awareness on the gut level and after consuming any food be it aloe or fish guts you should strip away all preconceived notions and book learned tripe and ask your innerself " does it feel right?"
For me eating aloe whither it be raw, juiced, gelled or prepared any other way never tasted right and never felt right in the gut.
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Good post sabertooth.
I'm going to continue having raw fresh aloe vera gel, and perhaps some of the leaf, until I find a reason not to.