There are many legends surrounding this plant. Alexander the Great conquered whole island (Socotra) in the Indian Ocean because of it, to cure the wounds of his soldiers. The plant has been credited with the most miraculous properties, from being an aphrodisiac to an immunomodulator. Of course, experts in dietary nutrition could not help but recommend using aloe for weight loss; its effects on the body make it effective for this purpose.
Mechanism of weight loss
It began to be recommended for weight loss because of its complex effect on the body:
- Triggers a process of burning fat;
- Has a mild laxative effect;
- Has detoxifying properties;
- Speeds up metabolism regardless of age;
- Improves digestion;
- Lowers blood sugar.
All of these processes that the body launches when you start using juice, gel, or agave extract (another name for the plant) regularly and correctly, lead to weight loss. However, there is a slight drawback, as it increases appetite.
Benefits
When losing weight using aloe, you will get a number of nice bonuses, as it has a health-improving effect on the body:
- Eliminates constipation;
- Reduces pain and inflammation in gastritis, enterocolitis, gastroenteritis and stomach ulcers;
- Makes breathing easier, helping with sleep apnea and shortness of breath caused by bronchial asthma and tuberculosis;
- Prevents eye diseases such as blepharitis, keratitis, conjunctivitis;
- Increases immunity;
- Accelerates recovery during acute infectious diseases;
- Softens cough, removes mucus from the lungs;
- Clears the face of acne and blackheads;
- Recommended for the elimination of “female” problems in the field of gynecology.
The plant owes its beneficial properties to its chemical composition, which includes sterols, pectins, volatile compounds, enzymes, catechins, vitamins, polysaccharides, organic acids, and other bioactive substances that normalize the body’s functions.
Contraindications
These include:
- Pregnancy (aloe can induce a miscarriage);
- Lactation;
- Heavy menstrual bleeding, uterine bleeding;
- Insomnia;
- Inflammation of the brain;
- Cardiovascular disease;
- Hemorrhoids;
- Diabetes;
- Kidney, liver or bladder disease;
- Under 14 years of age;
- Allergies.
Recommendations
How do you make aloe juice at home?
- The plant must be at least 3 years old to have medicinal properties.
- Do not water the plant 2-3 days before harvesting the material.
- Use scissors or a sharp knife to cut 5-6 of the juiciest lower leaves.
- Rinse them with warm boiled water. Pat dry with a towel.
- Wrap the leaves in cheesecloth folded in half, place them on a saucer, and place them on the top shelf of the refrigerator for 2 weeks. This is necessary for the formation of beneficial substances in the leaves.
- Cut each leaf lengthwise on one side.
- Use a teaspoon to remove the green, jelly-like substance – this is the gel that you need to use to prepare home remedies.
- Place it in a thick-walled glass jar, close the lid and refrigerate.
- Use within 3 days.
If you do not have two weeks to store the leaves in the refrigerator, you can simply pass them through a meat grinder, squeeze them out, and you will get the juice that can be used in the same way as the gel.
How do you prepare a mixture for weight loss?
There are various recipes, which are listed below. In these recipes, the effect of aloe is enhanced by fat-burning and metabolic auxiliary ingredients. However, there are also classic versions – 2 simple recipes that do not require additional components.
Recipe #1. Drink 1 teaspoon of gel or juice squeezed from the leaves twice a day: fifteen minutes before dinner and before going to bed. Drink plenty of water. Keep in mind that the taste is very bitter.
Recipe #2. For 1 teaspoon of gel (juice) – 100 ml of water at room temperature. Mix thoroughly. Drink everything at once. The scheme is the same as in the previous recipe.
In its pure form (in the first recipe), it is better to use the gel, and the juice is better diluted with water (according to the second).
When is it better to drink?
Aloe has a mild laxative effect, and a bowel movement can be expected 7-8 hours after taking it. Therefore, if your goal is to lose weight through cleansing the body, it is better to drink it before going to bed.
However, there is one more nuance. Aloe has a mild tonic effect on the central nervous system. Therefore, people suffering from neuroses, depression, emotionally excitable and unbalanced people may experience difficulty falling asleep if they drink it immediately before going to bed. If you have these problems, it is better to do this in the morning. Another solution is to add juice or gel to soothing herbal teas.
Each recipe and preparation instructions should indicate how to use a particular remedy, since the scheme can be completely different. It depends on the additional ingredients.
How long can you take it?
You should not take any remedy, whether it is a pharmacy drug or a folk recipe, for more than 2 weeks. The extract of this plant relaxes the digestive tract too much. This leads to the “lazy bowel” syndrome, when, after the end of the course, the stomach cannot process food on its own, as it expects outside help. This will lead to pain in the abdomen, discomfort, and constipation. But that’s not all.
Recent studies have shown that this syndrome is one of the causes of tumor development in the digestive tract. Given such serious consequences from the active use of aloe, it is strongly recommended to first consult a specialist.
Moreover, there are cases of poisoning with aloe juice. Symptoms of such conditions are:
- Intestinal colic;
- Severe diarrhea that does not stop;
- Nausea, vomiting;
- Dizziness;
- Unquenchable thirst;
- Trembling in the limbs.
Poisoning or overdose can lead to more serious health problems such as inflammation of the intestines and hemorrhagic nephritis.
Do I need to follow a diet at the same time?
If you just take aloe without changing anything in your diet or lifestyle, you will not achieve much success in losing weight. In the first few days, you can lose 3-4 pounds due to detoxification, but once your intestines are cleansed, weight loss will stop. In order to continue losing weight, you need to reduce your daily calorie intake. Since one of the properties of the plant is to speed up the metabolism, the plant should be combined with fractional and balanced nutrition. If in practice this is feasible, then diets are not needed. On the contrary, diets will only interfere by slowing down metabolic processes.
