Joel Kontinen

Does Aloe Vera Really Cause Cancer?



Posted: Sunday, April 17, 2011

by Joel Kontinen
http://joelkontinen.blogspot.com/

Aloe Vera is not actually known as a toxicant. Many people have only had positive things to say about the cactus-like plant Aloe Barbadensis Millerfor both its external and internal benefits. Some would even venture to say that it cures almost any ailment, including asthma and diabetes.

 Recently, however, New Scientist magazine threw some cold water on the faces of Aloe enthusiasts. It reported on a large study conducted by the US. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Scientists gave “relatively high doses of a whole-leaf extract of aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis) over two years” to both rats and mice in their drinking water and the results were rather frightening. Many of the rats got tumours, some benign and some malignant, in their large intestines. However, few mice had any tumours.

 Researchers suspect that the culprit is a substance called aloin A that gives Aloe Vera its bitter taste and can also cause diarrhea. Incidentally, many if not most Aloe Vera products meant for human consumption have little aloin left in them so there might not be a  need to throw away the juice of this amazing plant. Indeed, no negative effects have been found in Aloe Vera gel products that do not contain aloin.

 Furthermore, we should probably be skeptical of generalising the results of rat studies to humans. Rats, after all, are rather small creatures. The amounts of substances given to rodents in studies tend to be huge.

 A few years ago a Swedish study on French fries caused considerable anxiety in many European countries. The research, conducted on rats, claimed that eating French fries caused cancer. Only later did they disclose how much fries they actually gave to the little rats. Humans would have to eat so much of them that the weight gain would be a bigger health hazard than the ingested amounts of assumed carcinogens.

 It is probably needless to say that the French fries fright was a false alarm and the researchers had to issue a retraction. Time will tell whether the same also applies to the NIH research on the Aloe Vera whole-leaf extract.
Joel Kontinen is an author and translator currently living in Finland. His bacground includes an MA in translation studies and a BA in Bible and Theology. He mostly writes about origins issues.
 
Blog:. http://joelkontinen.blogspot.com/
 
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Marijo Phelps
 1 year 31 days ago.
143 fans.
When you read about research it seems that everything we eat cases cancer or cardiac problems- so then we quit eating? Moderation - I agree with Greg on this one and thanks for bringing it to our attention.
» left by Joel Kontinen 1 year 30 days ago.
43 fans.
Thanks, Marijo. Too much is obviously too much but the problem is that we don't know when too much is too much.
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