Exploring the Benefits of Aloe Vera
Aloe vera is truly amazing. Since ancient times, the gel from the leaves of aloe plants has been used for healing skin and as a folk remedy for many skin problems. Learn more about this houseplant that does double duty as a self-regenerating first-aid kit.
Among the easiest-to-grow houseplants, aloe vera will decorate a kitchen shelf with quiet grace while also providing healing compounds. Its fleshy leaves contain numerous plant compounds with antimicrobial, pain-reducing, anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Used medicinally for at least 6,000 years, the succulent plant spread throughout the world to become important in the traditional medicine of ancient Egypt, Rome, Greece, Persia, and India, and throughout Asia and Africa. The Spanish introduced aloe vera to South America and the Caribbean.
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Everyday Health Uses for Aloe Vera
Scientific evidence supports using the jellylike substance inside aloe vera leaves for alleviating pain and helping to heal everyday burns, abrasions, bruises, boils, canker sores, and other mouth sores. It may also alleviate symptoms of minor frostbite, herpes (both cold sores and shingles), hemorrhoids, psoriasis, and acne.
Some folks use aloe vera gel for dental hygiene. Many people use it to treat dandruff and as a general hair conditioner.
Although aloe is under investigation for use in diabetes, lowering LDL cholesterol, many digestive system disorders, and some cancers, health experts warn people not to take any fresh or processed aloe product internally, by mouth or injection, unless under the direct care of a doctor.
Recent research has shown that aloe doesn’t heal deep surgical wounds or radiation burns or prevent sunburn (though it can soothe a summer burn).
Warning: Many sources of information about this plant mention aloe vera’s value as a laxative. Its harsh laxative effect doesn’t come from the aloe gel, but from the “latex” or “juice” derived from the cells just under the outer skin of the leaves. In 2002, the FDA ruled that it could no longer be sold as an over-the-counter laxative.
How to Use a Fresh Aloe Leaf
Hundreds of aloe-containing products have flooded the market, but using the leaf is the freshest, least expensive way to take advantage of aloe’s everyday healing properties.
Simply remove one of the swordlike leaves from a living plant and slice it open along its length. Then either squeeze out the gelatinous material and apply it to the affected part or lay the entire opened leaf side directly over the affected part and bandage it lightly in place.
Applied topically, aloe vera gel has no serious side effects, although a few people experience allergic skin reactions to it. Try a small amount on a patch of skin first; if you notice a rash, swelling, or itching, discontinue use.
Aloe for Hair and Skin
Among the most common ingredients in commercial hair- and skin-conditioning products, fresh aloe vera gel works well as a homemade beauty aid.
Scrape it out of the leaves and use it as a hair gel or instead of your usual conditioner. Note: Aloe vera gel is thin and watery. It makes a great conditioning agent but won’t work as a thickener or styling agent. And don’t rely on aloe to prevent hair loss or regrow lost hair.
To use it as a skin moisturizer and toner, just scoop out the gel or rub a freshly cut leaf over your face and let it dry.
Aloe’s Use in Agriculture
The gel is such a safe and effective anti-fungal agent that agricultural scientists have begun experimenting with use of aloe vera extracts as natural fungicides to protect growing crops. They’ve also found that spraying Aloe vera extracts onto various kinds of ripe fruit helps protect and extend its shelf life.
Grow Your Own Aloe—Just Don’t Overwater!
Aloe vera will thrive outdoors only in frost-free regions of the U.S. But even the most horticulturally challenged can grow aloe vera as a houseplant.
Once established, the only ways to kill an aloe are by overwatering or depriving it of light. The plants reproduce enthusiastically, sending out new shoots, called “pups,” which you can snip off and replant.
If you know anyone with a thriving aloe vera plant, he or she will probably be glad to get you started. Plant it in good potting soil (one made for cacti or succulents is ideal), set it in a sunny spot and watch it grow.
For more about caring for aloe vera, see our Aloe Vera Growing Guide.
Margaret Boyles
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I have a Aloe vera plant at home but it has brown dots on the side and also a few lines. What does it mean and what do I do? Thank you
Hi Jisoo,
Sorry to hear about your aloe vera plant! Those brown dots can mean a variety of things, depending on the nature of them. If they are mushy or softish, that could mean you are overwatering. If they are dry or crispy, that can mean the opposite, that the plant needs more water. Sunburn looks more like widespread discoloration which doesn’t seem to be the case? Brown scale manifest as raised brown bumps that can be washed off, and may call for an insecticidal soap and/or removing the parts of the plant affected. Here is our guide to dealing with scale on houseplants. It could also be a fungus: Anthracnose can cause pitted, rusty brown spots, and “aloe rust” can lead to patches of brown that are dry to the touch. Here is our guide to dealing with anthracnose (with images to help you diagnose). In general, you’ll want to isolate the plant from others if it’s a pest or disease versus a care issue. If you think it’s a care issue, you could repot the plant, removing any affected parts, and give it new potting media that is well-draining. Let us know how it goes.
—The Editors of The Old Farmer’s Almanac
Aloe is grown on the island of Aruba (One Happy Island) where it is manufactured for sales of shampoo, hair conditioner, and skin treatment for sun burn or moisturizer. All of the hotels where I have stayed provided complimentary Aloe products to all of their guests. I can remember being on a trip to their Aloe Factory and Museum which was fun and interesting. While there, you can see the fields of Aloe growing in the hot sun. Our guide mentioned that Arubans also used Aloe for indigestion. Aloe is such a good plant.
What if I don’t need all of the gel from an entire leaf. Can I store the rest? Or, can I just cut an inch or two from it?
We freeze it in small pieces then use it. Works like a champ
Aloe works great for bug bites that itch.
My plant is large and doing great, nice and green and plump legs but they get so heavy they bend down and break at the bottom, by the main stem. I try to put sticks in the pot and tie them up but that looks funky. I love my plant but those legs are HEAVY.
HELP!
Would you email me, I am not on my computer to look at this site as often as I need to be. Thank you.
Fresh aloe Vera gel is also used as a rooting hormone
have some fantastic plants with exceptional blooms and vigorous plant survival down to 26 degrees this yr,would like to have opportunity to show the aloe lovers
My aloe vera is about 5 years old. It is in a rather large pot and our weather gets below zero in the winter time, I bring it in and set it back out in spring. It always turns a bit pink in the spring but by mid summer looks green and healthy again. Some of the bottom older leaves die so I trim them off. Last year when it was sitting outside, a squirrel decided to dig in the pot so I bought a new little aloe and potted them together so there was no available soil for the squirrel to dig in. Last winter I brought it in the house and there were three babies coming up. I dug them up and now I have five aloe, enough to share with friends. I have heard you can scrape the inside of the leafs and freeze them into ice cubes then if you get sunburned, you cant beat the relief they give. It is gross scraping the leaves so I have a frozen cube and will not harvest more unless I use up the available cube.
