Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Ulcerative Colitis Aloe Vera

Question:
My mum was reading this months newsletter from NACC (a Crohn’s and colitis charity in the UK) and inside was a letter from a lady who had been talking to her vet about IBD. The vet said she always used aloe vera juice on animals, and to try 2 spoonfuls a day herself. This had a very positive effect, and she lady recommended it to others. My dad has got UC as well as me, so he will probably but some aloe vera liquid later to give it a try, just wondering if anybody else has and if they had an success?

Answer:
I tried it for 2 months and it didn't change anything for me. But everyone is different.   I haven't tried it but it sounds like it's worth a shot. I also tried aloe vera for a while, and it never seemed to do anything good for me. I had no bad effects, either.(except it tastes bad) But if there is one thing I have noticed, one thing does not help everybody. It might be worth a try. PS: what did work, and does work for me is Pentasa (16 blue/green capsules per day). Along with medicated enemas when blood was visible. 'Knock on Wood' It has been six months since I needed one of them. But for 2-3 years after diagnosis it was as often as 3-4 times per week. Those places that SELL Aloe Vera will often tell you it's good for Crohn's. However, this site says the following: http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/aloevera Don't take the juice if you're pregnant or breastfeeding or if you have Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, appendicitis, or unexplained stomach pain. In addition, everyone should avoid long-term use of aloe juice: It can result in severe diarrhea, potassium loss, muscle weakness, weight loss, kidney inflammation, heart disturbances, and blood in the urine. Also, Dr. May at ccfa has said that Aloe Vera juice has essentially no value other than placebo and confirms that it can cause diarrhea.  He has also stated that while a few folks with upper GI Crohn's have gotten some relief with it, it didn't help the ones he knows with lower GI Crohn's and also, that even the people who said they felt some relief never did look any better on endoscopies or biopsies. Here are some links to some of Dr. May's answers about Aloe Vera and Crohn's at the CCFA site: http://www.ccfa.org/ubb/Forum13/HTML/000612.html http://www.ccfa.org/ubb/Forum22/HTML/000392.html http://www.ccfa.org/ubb/Forum24/HTML/000146.html Please note that I'm not saying that it will not work!  It's just that if you do a web search, you will get hundreds of sites that sell Aloe Vera juice and tell you it's wonderful for Crohn's, and I think I trust the sites that don't have something to gain a little more.  There are a lot of people out there who just prey on those with CD and other chronic conditions with things that are often quackery, and sometimes even harmful, so you do want to be careful. A nutrition based person whom I trust more than anyone says not to drink it. I have tried it (against her advice) with no improvement noticed. However, I do keep a bottle in the fridge. I recently found that it's great at healing canker sores. I just swish some in my mouth for a few minutes and rinse. I had one of the awful canker sore episodes where you get a ton at one time and the Aloe Vera was a life saver. When we lived in Germany and I was in the ibd group there...aloe vera was the latest thing...it was terribly expensive(which it should not be as it is wicked cheap to grow...I know cos someone from Arizona was staying where we were...someone else from my husband's workplace...and he told us how cheap it was)...anyway...it basically didn’t do a whole lot for anyone who was actively very sick...the people who already were in remission claimed it made them 'feel great'...but how much was psychological and how much was real was impossible to know...of course there was a local herbal supplement salesperson who was more than glad to supply people with imported from America aloevera…at a very high cost. I wonder with a lot of these things how much is psychological...and how much is simply that ibd tends to come and go at times...and it could seem as if something is helping when its not the something...it’s just good timing.. I use it quite frequently and find it useful. You should however make sure that you buy a quality brand - there's a lot of poor quality stuff on sale. Well I’ve started taking aloe pura maximum strength, me and my dad both think it may have helped a little bit but maybe that’s psychological. I need all the help I can get though because it is hoped to reduce my prednisolone dose further after xmas, from 15mg, and if I deteriorate my doc and parents are gonan start nagging about surgery again. I am pretty anemic (9.2 hemoglobin) but they’re giving me a blood transfusion within a few days, which should make me a bit less pale and more energetic, its gonna take some work to keep up though I think. I will post any progress on the aloe vera. Try to see if you can eat some stuff that has iron in it to help keep your anemia in control.  I have had the transfusions and it is no big deal and you will feel much better. If you're looking at some alt remedies, slippery elm is supposed be quite soothing, but it's yuck!!! Be careful with some herbs as they can make u worse. I tried it for 2 weeks and didn’t feel anything. There’s another alternative way. Its called multi-enzymes. I was able to get off medicine from taking it. I’ve had colitis for over 25 years and off meds for 4 years. You must be selling these multi-enzymes since you shill for them at least once a week. Like I've said before, IBD patients are not deficient in any enzyme, with the possible exception of lactase. Again, the body does not use ingested enzymes, it produces enzymes on it's own from amino acids as specified by a gene. Aloe Vera is a very strong laxative! If you want to get a serious big d by all means please do. well obviously I don’t want that. I am informed that if you get pure aloe vera, or the gel tablets (I’ve got the drink), with no additives or anything you wont get D, as its the additives which cause this, so a lot if dependant on the quality of what you get. My dad has shown great improvement, although his colitis is quite mild so at the stage where small things can have a bigger impact. I am not sure whether it’s helping, but it certainly isn’t doing any harm.