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Vitamins and supplements
Is is good to take aloe if you have Crohn's?
Is is good to take aloe if you have Crohn's?
Is aloe good for Crohn's?
- Thread starter stayinalive75
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Thank you for your input
There's a wiki entry on Aloe here:http://www.crohnsforum.com/wiki/Aloe-Vera
"It is recommended that it should not be used in people who have undergone abdominal surgery, or who have Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis."
"It is recommended that it should not be used in people who have undergone abdominal surgery, or who have Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis."
nogutsnoglory
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I didn't know it shouldn't be used in people who had surgery!
Chloe takes two tablespoons a day of pure aloe juice. I believe it has helped her but i can't say that it's good for everyone.
The effects of aloe ingestion on Crohn's seems vague. Maybe others can do more research, but specific polysaccharide ranges, with a molecular weight between 5 and 400 KDa, seem to have all the immunomodulating effects--whether these effects balance or over-activate the innate immune system is not clear to me.
The claims made on the aloe's therapeutic effects range from the antioxidant effect of scavenging free radicals better than Vit E; the activation of endogenous antioxidant enzyme systems (glutathione/SOD/catalase); the boosted absorption of vitamins E (269%) and C (204%) in human plasma levels--sustained over 24 hrs--when ingested together; activation of Phase II metabolism and detoxification of pollutants via boosting liver antioxidant enzymes; and immunomodulating effects of specific polysaccharides (molecular weight range:between 5 and 400 KDa) that stimulate TNF-α (a cytokine that activates the immune system) in cultured mouse peritoneal macrophages (The peritoneal cavity is a membrane-bound and fluid-filled abdominal cavity of mammals, which contains the liver, spleen, most of the gastro-intestinal tract and other viscera. It harbors a number of immune cells including macrophages, B cells and T cells.) implanted with sarcoma cells.
More specific aloe studies dealing with in vivo mice cells implanted with sarcoma tumors:
Qui Z, et al. Modified Aloe barbadensis polysaccharide with immunoregulatory activity. Planta Medica. 2000;66:1-5.
http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/10...NNEA7KWoAsD5.4
Im S-A, et al. Identification of optimal molecular size of modified Aloe polysaccharides with maximum immunomodulatory activity. Int Immunopharmacol. 2005;5:271-279.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...67576904003170
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...7323001000005X
"Safety studies conducted on a proprietary high-purity aloe vera inner leaf fillet preparation, Qmatrix®"
This concerns a particular patented formula called ACTIValoe which is organic inner fillet and filtered leaf combined with L. Rhamnosus lysate and L-Leucine. The safety study link refers to a 90 day study--longer than any GMO study--which fed mice the stuff up to 2 grams per 2lbs body weight. If I'm reading this right, it seems they gave the mice super doses just to prove a point, I mean, the human dose is not even 1.5 grams.
The gubamint, for some reason, felt it necessary to do a study on a specific non-decolored whole leaf liquid here:
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsro...vera/index.cfm
*It seems their carcinogenic mixture was with all the latex components intact. However, their own study says that most commercial products contain less than 10ppm of such latex. See pg 23 of study. Pg 32 explains immunomodulation effects. I would encourage others to research this further. I am too lazy right now.*
They concluded, after seeing carcinogenic effects of giving mice unfiltered whole leaf extract in water everyday, "The Aloe gel, which is used in skin care products, is generally believed to be safe. So, really there are three points I'd like to make from the NTP studies. Firstly, that within these NTP studies, we found there was clear carcinogenic activity of the non-decolorized whole leaf extract, in both male and female rats, based on the increase in large intestinal tumors. Now, secondly, we believe these are relevant to humans. Thirdly, how this translates to human risk requires more information. We particularly need to know what are the constituents, what's the levels of those constituents in human products, and what's the patterns of human exposure. That allows you to translate that to human risk."
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The claims made on the aloe's therapeutic effects range from the antioxidant effect of scavenging free radicals better than Vit E; the activation of endogenous antioxidant enzyme systems (glutathione/SOD/catalase); the boosted absorption of vitamins E (269%) and C (204%) in human plasma levels--sustained over 24 hrs--when ingested together; activation of Phase II metabolism and detoxification of pollutants via boosting liver antioxidant enzymes; and immunomodulating effects of specific polysaccharides (molecular weight range:between 5 and 400 KDa) that stimulate TNF-α (a cytokine that activates the immune system) in cultured mouse peritoneal macrophages (The peritoneal cavity is a membrane-bound and fluid-filled abdominal cavity of mammals, which contains the liver, spleen, most of the gastro-intestinal tract and other viscera. It harbors a number of immune cells including macrophages, B cells and T cells.) implanted with sarcoma cells.
More specific aloe studies dealing with in vivo mice cells implanted with sarcoma tumors:
Qui Z, et al. Modified Aloe barbadensis polysaccharide with immunoregulatory activity. Planta Medica. 2000;66:1-5.
http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/10...NNEA7KWoAsD5.4
Im S-A, et al. Identification of optimal molecular size of modified Aloe polysaccharides with maximum immunomodulatory activity. Int Immunopharmacol. 2005;5:271-279.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...67576904003170
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...7323001000005X
"Safety studies conducted on a proprietary high-purity aloe vera inner leaf fillet preparation, Qmatrix®"
This concerns a particular patented formula called ACTIValoe which is organic inner fillet and filtered leaf combined with L. Rhamnosus lysate and L-Leucine. The safety study link refers to a 90 day study--longer than any GMO study--which fed mice the stuff up to 2 grams per 2lbs body weight. If I'm reading this right, it seems they gave the mice super doses just to prove a point, I mean, the human dose is not even 1.5 grams.
The gubamint, for some reason, felt it necessary to do a study on a specific non-decolored whole leaf liquid here:
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsro...vera/index.cfm
*It seems their carcinogenic mixture was with all the latex components intact. However, their own study says that most commercial products contain less than 10ppm of such latex. See pg 23 of study. Pg 32 explains immunomodulation effects. I would encourage others to research this further. I am too lazy right now.*
They concluded, after seeing carcinogenic effects of giving mice unfiltered whole leaf extract in water everyday, "The Aloe gel, which is used in skin care products, is generally believed to be safe. So, really there are three points I'd like to make from the NTP studies. Firstly, that within these NTP studies, we found there was clear carcinogenic activity of the non-decolorized whole leaf extract, in both male and female rats, based on the increase in large intestinal tumors. Now, secondly, we believe these are relevant to humans. Thirdly, how this translates to human risk requires more information. We particularly need to know what are the constituents, what's the levels of those constituents in human products, and what's the patterns of human exposure. That allows you to translate that to human risk."
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I have used Aloe Vera Juice in the past and have had good results from it. However there are certain kinds that can cause diarhhea if they aren't processed the same way. I have used George's Always Active Aloe Vera Juice. This seems to be one of the few that doesn't cause the other symptoms. It worked wonders on my heartburn and acid reflux. :ybiggrin:
There is some autonomous, self regulating, aloe organization that keeps most brands in range, with regard to the latex content. The fillet-only formulations are probably safer, but most companies probably don't focus on the immune regulating properties. The ACTIValoe is in many brands; the one I bought is Country Life's Immune Prep.
