The medical properties of Aloe vera are well known throughout the world. While usage of the plant gained popularity in the United States in the sixties and seventies, historians cite usage of the plant as far back as Ancient Egypt.
Today, Aloe vera is most widely used to cure skin infections, scrapes, cuts, and burns. But the plant’s application is not limited to external use. Recent trends have seen the growth of Aloe vera yogurt in Japan and Aloe vera soft drinks in South Korea. Some creative and fun individuals have even been making Aloe vera smoothies.
While not as extravagant as yogurt, soft drinks, or the increasingly popular smoothies, properly prepared Aloe vera juice will still provide the internal digestive and immune system benefits that comes with ingesting the Aloe vera plant.
Preparation of Aloe vera juice is simple. All that is needed is a blender, a gallon of water (or an equal amount of the fruit juice of your choice) and 10 to 12 Aloe vera leaves.
To begin, wash your leaves thoroughly in cold water and slice off and dispose of the thorny sides. While some recipes call for including the green of the leaf, this has been known to cause irritation in some digestive systems, so it is best to instead drain the juice from the leaves. To do this, simply chop your leaves into 3 to 4 pieces , put them in the blender, and press blend.
After blending for several seconds, you should have enough juice. Strain the pulp from the pure juice, and discard the pulp. Wash the blender thoroughly before pouring the juice back into the blender and adding a gallon of water. It is best to add the juice of a lemon or other fresh citrus to give the Aloe vera juice some taste.
Some prefer to substitute a low calorie and low sugar fruit juice instead of water. This is perfectly acceptable and will not adversely affect the benefits of the Aloe vera juice. In fact, combining the Aloe vera properties with the beneficial properties of orange juice will be a double dose of medicinal benefits for the body.
Making this juice is a simple and preservative-free way to give the body an extra boost. Best of all, it doesn’t require any additional chemicals outside of what nature intended. In our chemical and preservative heavy society, that alone is good news for our bodies.
