The Magic Of Aloe Vera (Part 1) - The Wikaniko Way

A little while back I burnt my hand getting something out of the oven. I did the usual - running under a cold tap to cool the hand - but it was still quite painful. I didn't have any pharmaceutical cream to apply but I did have aloe vera hand cream.

I had heard about the benefits of aloe vera so decided to try it on my burn. Within 30 seconds, the pain was reduced to a slight itchy tingling. 

Although the pain did return later in the day, nevertheless it demonstrated the healing power of aloe vera. Obviously the concentration in the hand cream was probably nowhere near that of any medical grade gel. But hey...who cared. It did its job.

After a couple of applications of the hand cream, the burn was healing, leaving just a red mark.

The healing power of aloe vera has been known about for thousands of years, yet people are fooled into thinking that only pharmaceutical compounds are the only viable method of healing small burns, cut and so on. Or even major illnesses.

However aloe vera is an important natural plant with many benefits, yet it is also something that appears to be put in a crank category (on a par with homeopathy) by the medical and pharmaceutical companies, 

Personally, I believe there is a valid reason for this attitude. Aloe vera is a cheap plant that can be grown in the comfort of your own home,. To use it doesn't require any medical training. The leaves of the plant are what does the work just like dock  leaves do when curing the sting of a nettle. 

In short, if it doesn't make pharma companies money then it is ridiculed.  And the medical profession goes along with this it seems.

This may be a controversial thing to say, and I stress it is just my own personal opinion, but I know from personal experience how both professions keep me where they want me.

As a diabetic, I am expected to take medication - metformin in my case - to control my blood sugar level. However I recently found out that aloe vera juice can do the same job.

What's stopping me ditching metformin and just using aloe vera juice? 

The answer's quite simple. I am supposed to trust the medical profession. Metformin is a tried and tested remedy that works; aloe vera juice isn't. But metformin does have side effects both short term and long term.

By contrast it isn't known yet whether taking aloe vera is a suitable alternative. The jury is still out - or rather there doesn't seem to be a jury since serious research into the benefits of the plant is lacking.

So, what is aloe vera? Basically it's a plant grown in various parts of the world. The word aloe is from the Arabic meaning radiance. The earliest reference to it comes from the ancient Egyptians who are said to have used the plant as both a healing remedy and for use during embalming of mummies. It apparently has natural preservative properties.

In Sumeria (1750 BC) it was used to treat nausea and stomach problems. Aloe vera is also known to have been a favourite remedy of Alexander the Great's doctor. Even Cleopatra is said to have used the plant as a beauty product.

So, as you can see, aloe vera appears to have been used by our ancestors for all sorts of reasons. But it is now finding resurgence in our fast paced modern world.

For more information about Aloe Vera gel and the many other products available take a look here.

www.wegogreen.co.uk

www.wegogreen.org.uk

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Planting Trees For Our Future

While watching the TV the other night an advert came on advertising toilet paper. The advert extolled the virtues of the company behind the product by saying something along the lines of ..."we plant 2 trees for every one knocked down to make our toilet rolls."

Although on the surface this is seems commendable I often wonder how many old trees are destroyed simply to make toilet rolls!

The interesting thing is that there is an eco alternative to traditional paper rolls. Yes, there is an alternative - they are treeless toilet rolls made from sugar cane - sugar cane waste in actual fact. This waste is a fibre called bagasse, and it is formed after the sugar cane stalks have been crushed and the juice released.

The great thing about bagasse is that it is highly concentrated in cellulose which is ideal for making tissue -  hence treeless toilet rolls.

Trees are vital to us for all sorts of reasons - the most important being they produce the oxygen we need to live. Clearing forests, while sometimes necessary, has however gone beyond necessity it seems.

But people have been powerless to stop it. We can demonstrate all we like but in the end governments around the world make the final decisions. Even those that purport to be democracies.

And what about places like Africa? Much of this continent has been cleared of tees to make way for so-called modern development. In fact, deforestation has caused so much damage that even larger animals such as African Elephants are now in danger of extinction.

But a few of us are doing something worthwhile to put back what's been lost. It's called the 10,000 trees project.

And you can get involved. You can buy trees for just £5 with a choice of 3 - 2 fruit trees: Mango and Apple; and an indigenous tree.

When you purchase an indigenous tree for example it:

1. Provides food, medicines and shelter
2. Improves living standards of the local population
3. Rebuilds worn soil
4. Reduces erosion
5. Replenishes groundwater aquifiers
6. Creates a microclimate
7. Encourages the return of other indigenous species
8. Improves the soil quality necessary for
                                                           both bio-diversity and agriculture

So what are you waiting for?

It is said that when you give a man (or woman) a fish you can feed him for a day, but teach him or her to fish and you feed for a lifetime.

And so the same applies to planting trees. You are giving life back to a land that was barren. And helping its people at the same time.

If that's not a worthwhile cause....

To find out more about the 10,000 project visit www.wegogreen.org.uk and to purchase one of the trees for just £5 (and receive a certificate as well) visit the Tree Section in the shop.