Aloe Vera for Your Health and for Your Hair
The oldest finds about aloe vera are referred to the Egyptian culture, some three thousand years before Christ. They consist of pictorial images found on the walls of tombs and funerary monuments.
Among its properties, we can highlight both internal and external applications in different aspects of life, from beauty to medicinal treatments, all through presentations such as gel, cream, topical, and even orally ingested.
If we analyze the interior of an aloe leaf or stalk, we will find beneficial substances such as vitamins, amino acids, proteins, minerals, enzymes, and oligo-elements, to name but a few.
Water is also an important component, as it contains 98.5% water and 1.5% solid components. That is why aloe vera is an excellent vehicle for the active ingredients, allowing the flow of oxygen needed to repair the tissue.
Its health benefits are diverse and are described in various kinds of literature, as well as in the popular wisdom that is transmitted from generation to generation.
Benefits of Aloe Vera
Aloe vera helps to regulate the pH of the skin and is absorbed by all of its layers, even the deepest ones, thus causing the release of the bacteria that obstruct the pores; at the same time, it eliminates dead cells in the skin.
Aloe vera gel is known to help prevent wrinkles in the skin, and its toning power reduces the appearance of stretch marks.
The use of aloe vera is so advisable for the face that specialists recommend it in cases of dermatitis and diseases such as psoriasis.
There are many benefits of aloe vera for the skin. Due to its balsamic effect, it is recommended to treat juvenile acne cases because it is a powerful agent to reduce infections in the pores. That is why nowadays we see more and more aloe vera masks and other presentations for skincare.
Among the different presentations found on the market, there is also pure aloe vera, which is highly recommended for use on the face because of the number of benefits it provides, such as those described above.
It helps soothe irritations and is prescribed in cases of insect bites, burns, and superficial wounds.
As for the uses and properties of aloe vera, ingesting it orally is available because it is rich in vitamins A, C, and E, as well as folic acid, choline, and vitamins B1 B2, B3, and B6. It also contains minerals such as magnesium, calcium, zinc, chromium, sodium, selenium, potassium, iron, manganese, and copper.
Among the properties of drinkable aloe vera is its power to alkalize the body as well as helping to process very high acid foods.
It also contains a high amount of fatty acids, amino acids, and antioxidants that make it a great immune enhancer and a great source of help against free radicals.
Another of the properties of pure aloe vera is that it acts as a laxative and cleanser of the digestive tract. It relieves the symptoms associated with its malfunctioning; also, aloe vera prevents the proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms and bacteria.
Aloe Vera for Hair Use
In addition to the properties of aloe vera on the skin, it has been proven that it has a positive effect on the hair as it helps to eliminate excess oil on the scalp and is even capable of removing dandruff, as its moisturizing effect reduces the dry skin accumulated under the hair. This is why many beauty and hair care products have it among their main ingredients.
The gel’s ability to penetrate expands the scalp’s pores, and the amino acids of the plant penetrate to revitalize healthy tissues.
Together with the above, it achieves the deep cleansing of the skin by bringing all the impurities to the surface so that they are easily eliminated.
In the case of healthy hair, it serves as a conditioner by penetrating the roots. The substances present in aloe have a chemical composition similar to that of keratin, which is the essential protein of hair. Consequently contributes to rejuvenating it by providing the same nutrients. The result is hair that is more elastic and flexible and, therefore, less brittle.
Other Properties of Aloe Vera for Hair
Removes fat and seborrhea
Expels the fat deposits that obstruct the hair follicles. The symptoms disappear from the first applications.
Eradicates dandruff
It stops dandruff and prevents its reappearance. It is possible that in the first application, an increase of loose dandruff in the hair can be observed. That is because the aloe vera detaches dandruff adhered to the skin, but it is eliminated with a simple brushing. In successive applications, dandruff disappears completely.
It is Nourishing
It contains amino acids, vitamins, and minerals that nourish and revitalize the hair giving it strength and shine.
It is Regenerative
It helps the blood supply that the hair follicles need so much for the hair’s correct growth and to stop or reduce its loss.
It is a Conditioner
As it has substances of similar composition to keratin, it rejuvenates the hair, providing it with the same nutrients, resulting in a brighter, more elastic, and flexible hair.
Prevents Alopecia
The fact that aloe vera is found in many anti-hair loss products does not mean that it is, as some attribute it, a hair-grower.
In cases of alopecia of the seborrheic type, produced by an excess of sebaceous secretions in the scalp on the one hand, or by some disease or injury, aloe vera may regenerate part of the lost hair, provided that the root has not died.
It is Relaxing
Anthraquinones help with their anesthetic properties to reduce muscular tension in the head. That is why it is also healthy to use it by performing gentle massages to relieve stress.
