Generality
What is aloe juice?
Aloe juice is extracted from the leaves of different species of the genus Aloe, a plant known and appreciated for its many medicinal and health properties . It should not be confused with aloe gel and its food derivatives (often called juices); in these products the anthraquinone component is in fact removed, typical of the aloe juice proper and responsible for its laxative effects .
To get it, use the most superficial portion of the leaves; on the cortical edges of the foliar mesophyll, immediately below the epidermis, are in fact specialized cells (pericyclic tubules) that contain it.
Aloe gel: a different product
The remaining part of the leaf, in particular the parenchymal tissue located in the central portion, is used to extract the drug known as "Aloe Gel". This product, particularly rich in mucilage, boasts health and therapeutic applications that are completely different from those of aloe juice; it is in fact used externally for its anti-inflammatory and healing properties, or for internal use, in the case of the soothing and protective action of mucilages (useful in the presence of gastritis, colitis, esophagitis, etc.).
Aloe gel is presented as a viscous, transparent and colorless liquid; particularly diluted (rich in water) it is used daily for internal use as a multivitamin, a natural moisturizer and mineralizer; they are extolled - often with excessive enthusiasm, given the lack of randomized studies - also antitumor properties (due to the content of Aloe-emodin, which has shown antineoplastic activity in vitro), immunostimulants and hypoglycemic agents.
Therefore, what we commonly call aloe juice is actually the diluted gel, while the real aloe juice is a vitreous mass used in minimal doses (a few milligrams) to combat constipation.
Indications
When to use aloe juice?
Aloe juice is indicated for constipation that does not respond to nutritional and behavioral therapy.
It would be advisable to use aloe juice as a last resort, as it often triggers acute and important side effects and, in the long term, tends to irritate the intestine excessively.
Property and Effectiveness
What benefits has aloe juice shown during the studies?
Aloe juice is considered a highly effective product against constipation, although not without side effects.
Aloe juice shows in fact a marked laxative activity, due to its content of anthraquinone glycosides, the so-called aloins (A and B, called barbaloin and isobarbaloin respectively); its action is so powerful that it becomes a real purgative .
Among all the anthraquinone drugs, ordered by intensity of therapeutic effect (aloe juice, senna leaf, senna fruit, cascara bark, frangula bark and rhubarb rhizome), aloe juice exhibits the most marked laxative power and major side effects.
For this reason, the use of pure aloe juice is limited today, both because it can cause important abdominal pains, and because of the drastic effect of its effect. Often, to modulate its effect, it is combined with other anthraquinone drugs or mass laxatives.
The active ingredients of aloe juice (anthraquinone glycosides) are not degraded in the stomach and reach the colon releasing aglycones (emodin, reina, chrysophanol) with laxative action. These substances act synergistically, increasing peristalsis and irritating the mucosa, thus stimulating its secretion; this explains why there is a fairly long period between 6 and 10-12 hours between drug ingestion and the appearance of the laxative effect.
Doses and Mode of Use
How to use aloe juice?
Aloe juice is highly evacuative.
In fact 0.025 grams are enough to produce a marked laxative action after 6-12 hours from the assumption, sustained by the powerful stimulus on intestinal motility (often responsible for undesirable effects)
Side effects
The short-term side effects, typical of aloe juice, are cramps and abdominal pains.
Excessive doses of aloe juice, like prolonged use, can cause problems at various levels of the digestive tract, with the appearance of gastritis, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, flatulence and expulsion of stools rich in mucus or with traces of blood more or less showy; the risk of nephritis is also substantial, which requires particular caution in the use of aloe juice in patients with kidney disorders. Like all anthraquinone laxatives, prolonged use (4-12 months) can induce the onset of colon melanosis.
Contraindications
When should aloe juice not be used?
Prolonged use of aloe juice is particularly discouraged for patients following certain drug therapies.
Furthermore, it is advisable to be very careful in case of an irritable colon characterized by the alternation between constipation and diarrhea; taking aloe juice when the intestine radically changes its motility and stool consistency (from solid to liquid), increases the risk of severe diarrhea and dysentery.
Since anthraquinones are absorbed and can also pass into milk (secretion of the mammary gland), the use of aloe juice is contraindicated both in pregnancy and in lactation . Moreover, anthraquinones can increase uterine contractility by exposing pregnant women to the risk of abortion .
Aloe juice is also contraindicated during menstrual flow, in the presence of varicose veins, haemorrhoids, anal fistulas, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, appendicitis, other inflammatory bowel diseases and kidney diseases.
Pharmacological Interactions
What drugs or foods can change the effect of aloe juice?
Aloe juice can negatively affect the metabolism of subjects taking certain drugs and potassium drugs such as:
- Thiazide diuretics
- Licorice
- Cortisonici.
Moreover, we recall that the increased intestinal transit triggered by the intake of aloe juice can reduce the absorption of drugs taken simultaneously by the oral route.
Precautions for Use
What do you need to know before taking aloe juice?
Aloe juice can exert various unwanted reactions.
In addition to acute and chronic side effects, drug interactions and contraindications, it should be remembered that aloe juice also reduces intestinal absorption, increases the risk of dehydration and may favor the loss of certain nutrients.
