You have just ingested one or two child-friendly Aloeride® capsules with anything between 50mL and 284.13mL of delicious, filtered water (i.e. normal glass – half pint). So what is happening next.

After a rapid descent down the food pipe (normal value for mean oesophageal transit time is < 5 seconds) the Aloeride® capsules land in the fluid environment of your stomach. In the elderly and using just 50mL of water, gelatine capsules may remain in the oesophagus for longer, but this is easily solved by taking a swig of water before ingesting the capsules and then washing the capsules down with ample water.

The capsules now are in gastric residence for some 15 minutes until gastric emptying occurs. In the fluid environment of the stomach, the Aloeride® capsules dissolve within 1 or 2 minutes, giving our powder plenty of time to mix with the ample water with which you swallowed the capsules (your stomach’s mixing waves occur every 15-25 seconds). You now have rehydrated aloe vera powder.

So the first tissue Aloeride® aloe vera comes into contact with is the stomach epithelium. A team from the Barts and London, Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and Dentistry carried out tests which show that aloe vera has a beneficial effect on the production of substances which help boost the healing process in cases of ulceration. The symptoms Aloeride® helps with are heartburn (GU gastric ulcer) and ascending pain in gastro-oesophageal reflux (GERD/GORD). There are good quality research papers on the ulceroprotective and ulcer healing action of aloe vera:

(Blitz, J.J.;  Smith, J.W.;  Gerard, J.R.  Aloe Vera Gel in peptic ulcer therapy;  Preliminary report.  Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.  1963.62.731-735; Galalee, Kandila, Hegazy E, El Ghoroury M, Gobran W: Aloe Vera and gastrointestinal ulceration, J Drug Res Egypt 7:73-77, 1975; Gupta MB, Nath R, Gupta GP, Bhargava KP: Antiulcer activity of some plant triterpenoids, Indian J Med Res 73:649-652, 1981; Kandil A, Gobran W: Protection of gastric mucosa by Aloe Vera, J Drug Res Egypt 11:191-196, 1979; Koo, M.W.L.  Aloe Vera;  anti-ulcer and anti-diabetic effects.  Phytother Res. 1994. 8(8).  461-464)

After gastric emptying the Aloeride® molecules venture further, into the duodenum which is the first stretch of the about 6 metre long small intestine. The name duodenum is a derivation from the Greek dodekadaktulon meaning twelve fingers because the small intestine’s proximal segment measures 12 fingers’ breadth. Duodenal ulcers are well-demarcated and often smaller than 1cm in diameter ulcers in the mucosal barrier commonly caused by a Helicobacter Pylori infection or by Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID). If you have persistent sharp, stabbing stomach pains or blood in stools/vomit then you must see your doctor urgently. Clinically, NSAID-induced duodenal ulcers are most likely to bleed. The common prescription is called triple therapy: two antibiotics to kill the bacteria plus either H2 blockers or proton pump inhibitors. Antibiotics used in triple therapy may cause side effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, dark stools, metallic taste in the mouth, dizziness, headache, and yeast infections in women. If there are no red flags of immediate danger it is safe to let Aloeride® kill H. Pylori and heal the mucosal layer, there is sufficient evidence that it can.

(Wang HH, Chung JG, Ho CC. Aloe-emodin effects on arylamine n-acetyltransferase activity in the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. Planta Med 1998; 64: 176-178; Wang HH, Chung JG. Emodin-induced inhibition of growth and DNA damage in the Helicobacter pylori. Current Microbiology 1997; 35: 262-266; Parmar NS, Tariq M, Al-Yahya MA, et al. Evaluation of Aloe vera leaf exudate and gel for gastric and duodenal ulcer activity. Fitoterapia 1986; LVII(5): 380-383; Koo MWL. Aloe vera: antiulcer and antidiabetic effects. Phytotherapy Research 1994; 8: 461-464)

For Helicobacter pylori to establish itself and flourish, it needs a certain milieu called locus minoris resistentiae (area of lowered resistance) which happens due to NSAIDs but also by stress. The most important effect of stress on the gastrointestinal tract is to decrease mucosal blood flow and thereby compromise the integrity of the mucosal barrier, the creation of your locus minoris resistentiae. Among other things, a reduced mucosal blood flow suppresses the production of mucous thus limiting the protective ability to remove back diffusing protons (H+ molecules are acid and in sufficient concentration of course cause damage and pain). Significant stress is almost always associated with mucosal erosions, particularly in the stomach (GU). A majority of these lesions are subclinical, but gastrointestinal haemorrhage and sepsis are not infrequent consequences. Regardless of whether you opt for triple therapy or Aloeride®, effective stress management should be included in your approach.

Topically in the small intestine, Aloeride® molecules effect anti-inflammatory, analgesic, ulceroprotective & ulcer healing action as well as providing a protective barrier. Improvement in bloating, discomfort and stool consistency tends to be the first benefits people notice in digestive disorders (IBD and IBS). Facilitating the growth of good bacteria, anti-microbial, anti-diabetic and immune modulation happen ‘behind the scene’ so are not noticed quite so immediately.

The molecules not used in the small intestine – via receptor adhesion or pinocytosis into the bloodstream – venture into the large intestine and take similar action as they did in the small intestine. Gradually there must be a shift from Aloeride® molecules working topically to Aloeride® molecules working via the intestine’s own blood supply (systemic).

Back in the small intestine absorption happens of virtually all nutrients into blood but two things can hinder this: maldigestion of food (intraluminal disorders) and malabsorption of food (intramural disorders). To help the former you should review the foods you eat and the drinks you drink, consider ingesting appropriate digestive enzymes and/or increasing your good bacteria via Aloeride® plus probiotics. Maldigestion is about you not breaking down (mechanical chewing followed by enzymatic breakdown) large, complex molecular structures into small molecules that can be transported across the epithelium. When this process doesn’t happen fully, macromolecules remain in the intestinal lumen and either become fodder for pathogens or fuel for fermentation.

Aloeride® helps intramural passage by changing the gut wall’s mucosal layer. Having been cleaved mechanically and by enzymes, the individual nutrients need to pass a mucous layer (glycocalyx) that shields the tentacles (villi) via which your food is absorbed. An irritated gut wall has a thicker layer of mucous, raising the hurdle for nutrients to cross. Aloeride® placates the lining of the gastro-intestinal tract and consequently the mucous layer normalises so nutrients now jump over a normal ‘2 foot hurdle’ rather than a ‘5 foot hurdle’. So you absorb more of the food you choose to put into your system.

For digestion Aloeride® helps in the management of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), UC (ulcerative colitis), CD (Crohn’s disease), GORD (gastroesophageal reflux disease), GU (gastric ulcer), DU (duodenal ulcer) food sensitivity and hyperpermeability syndrome.

And finally, Aloeride® itself is a food containing a huge amount of nutrients. With more than 300 types of molecules present, aloe vera is classed as food in the USA. In the EU aloe vera is classed as a food supplement so we pay 17.5% Value Added Tax on it. Aloeride® provides an abundance of essential nutrients that are used for cell function or the manufacture of hormones and enzymes: minerals, vitamins, amino acids, enzymes, saccharides, sterols and anthraquinones.

Topical actions were discussed in detail already but these molecules will act wherever your blood takes them. So it is understandable that they will have a diverse effect. For the skin (epithelial tissue like the digestive tract) Aloeride® helps with the management of acne, eczema, anti-ageing, liver spots and psoriasis. In respect of anti-ageing, as you know, reduced collagen levels equals wrinkles. Aloeride® stimulates the fibroblasts in the dermis to produce more collagen and elastin and thus avoids and repairs wrinkles safely from the inside. Aloeride® also improves UV tolerance and promotes the only safe, inside-out wound repair for leg ulcers and decubitus ulcers. Aloeride®, because of its exceptional aloeride molecule fraction, is highly immune modulatory (it normalises an abnormal immune response) and generally immune stimulatory for underactive immune systems.

Aloeride® provides exemplary quantities of these, some 300 different types of molecules. Aloeride® provides a unique, exemplary spectrum of aloe vera polysaccharides. Aloeride® is pure and without laxative molecules so it is hardly any wonder that Aloeride® helps so many people feel such a lot better.

Author: Han van de Braak BSc LicAc MCSP MBAcC – Copyright ©2008 Santé Franglais (UK) Ltd.