All About Aloe: Turn Your Smoothie Into a Superhero
Spiky on the outside, filled with gooey goodness on the inside—aloe vera isn’t just for sunburns anymore. It’s an edible, drinkable superfood that’s packed with vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids.
Ready to get that health-giving goodness into your body and not just on it? Get the down-low on aloe with this comprehensive aloe vera infographic—detailing everything from the plant’s iron content to its role in Indonesian households.
Aloe is such a multi-tasking magician, it can be hard to know where to start. Keep it simple. A smoothie is the easiest—and tastiest—way to introduce this disease-fighting dynamo into your diet.
A few tips on the road to aloe smoothie bliss:
1. Fresh is best. Avoid preservatives and other unpronounceable ingredients by buying whole aloe leaves at natural grocery stores. Some Asian markets also carry them.
2. Fatter is finer. Look for plump, convex aloe leaves. They’re easier to work with and more likely to contain plenty of gel.
3. Cut it down to size. Don’t be intimidated by aloe’s dagger-shaped, leathery leaves. Learn how to fillet your new friend in this video.
4. Focus on the gel. There are two parts to an aloe interior: the clear gel and the liquid (aka latex). Avoid the latex, which can be bitter and also has a laxative effect.
5. You might have noticed in the video that the aloe gel was a beautiful purple color. It’s not an exotic variety and not a sign of damage—just an indication that the leaves had been frozen at some point, probably during shipping.
6. Make it flavorful. For a lot of people, fresh aloe is an acquired taste and texture. There’s no getting around the gooeyness. Introduce aloe into your diet by blending into a superfood smoothie. (Click HERE for yummy recipes).
7. Glow with health. Aloe has proven anti-inflammatory properties and is also an immune booster. Some studies show it even relieves pain, treats diabetes and eases arthritis.
8. Grow your own. Even if you don’t have a green thumb, aloe is super-simple to raise. Just cut off a piece of fresh aloe leaf and put it in a pot of sandy soil in full sun. Soon you’ll have your own superfood growing on your kitchen window sill!Watch me use fresh Aloe Vera for smoothies and face masks!
[x_alert heading=”Did you know?” type=”info”]That when damaged, an aloe plant will repair itself? It’s a fact. Like other succulents, it uses its internal gel to seal up cuts. Isn’t it time to let this ancient plant work its healing magic on you, too?[/x_alert]
Eat fresh ALOE VERA with me at Tropical Gracious Living Lifestyle Retreat!
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**Thanks to the amazing peeps at Natural Healers for all this awesome and important info and supporting Gracious Living Lifestyle Retreats.
You are what you eat. You are what you think. ~Gracious Living Lifestyle XO