{"id":1467,"date":"2011-12-01T22:57:15","date_gmt":"2011-12-01T22:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.organicmamacafe.com\/?p=1467"},"modified":"2011-12-01T22:57:15","modified_gmt":"2011-12-01T22:57:15","slug":"aloe-vera-an-organic-mamas-medicine-cabinet-essential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.organicmamacafe.com\/home\/2011\/12\/aloe-vera-an-organic-mamas-medicine-cabinet-essential\/","title":{"rendered":"Aloe Vera, An Organic Mama’s Medicine Cabinet Essential"},"content":{"rendered":"

$\"\"$ <\/a>Since this time of year, we’re all doing a little more baking and cooking (thus a higher potential for painful burns, haha!), I thought I’d do a post about something that might come in handy for personal use or gifts. Here it is. Yep. That’s right, a plant. One of my favorites – Aloe Vera.<\/p>\n

I thought of this last night because as I was cooking dinner, I managed to burn the inside of my right forearm. Boy, did it hurt! I rinsed it with cool water right away but like most moms, I needed to finish cooking, clean up the kitchen, get the kids to bed etc. You get the picture. However, within an hour, right as I was moving the kids toward bedtime,\u00a0 I realized how much it was smarting.<\/p>\n

My oldest looked at me with concern so I asked, “What do you think I should do with a burn like this?”<\/p>\n

The answers came quickly, “Rinse with water. Rest it.”<\/p>\n

“What else?” I asked.<\/p>\n

“Aloe vera, of course!” came the reply.<\/p>\n

“You’re so right.” I answered. Why\u00a0 did I put off doing it? As with many remedies, the sooner you pay attention to the pain that’s shouting at you, the faster it will be healed.<\/p>\n

I quickly stepped outside and snapped off a piece, avoiding the thorns. Over the next 1\/2 hour, I smoothed it over the burn several times. Overnight, the angry red mark was almost completely gone. It would have smarted all week without aloe. Awesome!<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>Here’s my aloe plant. I love this one because the color is beautiful and filled with juice. See that little one growing off to the side? It’s called a pup. To replant it, just gently pull it out of the ground and snap off several inches of root. Place in dirt, water and you have gift worthy plant!<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s true that as an Arizona girl I’m probably a little bit prejudiced to love the aloe plant but I think everyone should have one.<\/p>\n

Not only can the inner flesh be used externally for burns – whether from the stove or sun, it’s also a great addition to soothing creams and lotions. Some people say it can be used as a mild sun protectant! It can also be used internally for various ailments from gastrointestinal disorders\u00a0 to heart disease and cancer.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>Here’s my neighbor’s aloe. \u00a0A slightly different variety but still has healing power. Notice how narrow it is? This one is a very vigorous reproducer and will fill the box if they allow it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Plus, aloe is a beautiful plant that grows great in hot climates with very limited water or attention. That’s one of my favorite reasons for keeping in my garden.<\/p>\n

Here’s the other. Aloe plants reproduce easily so once you have one,\u00a0 you have a source for ongoing gift giving.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>Yet another variety of aloe. Another neighbor in our townhome community has these and they’re beautiful. Over a foot tall, the long leaves are filled with a lot more healing flesh. This one has a strong odor but seems to be an even more powerful healer.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>This season, consider giving yourself or someone else a gift with many uses. Aloe is an irreplaceable resource in an Organic Mama’s garden!<\/p>\n

It’s SO easy to use.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

1. Wash it and cut off the thorns.<\/em><\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>2. Slice it open lengthwise to reveal the flesh inside and rub it on the burn. I would not use it on broken skin. If it starts to feel “dry” just give it a few scratches with your nail or a knife and the juice will rise to the top. Store in the fridge between uses.<\/em><\/p>\n

*Research internal use of Aloe Vera carefully before beginning and do not take internally when pregnant!<\/span><\/p>\n

**As always, I\u2019ll remind you that I am not a doctor. \u00a0These are common sense remedies I use for my family, especially because they support the immune system rather than simply attacking the symptoms of illness. I have taken the time to research any herbal recipes carefully myself and have consulted with my local herbalist and doctor. I encourage you to always do the same before choosing to take or administer any kind of remedy,\u00a0<\/strong>whether herbal or off the shelf at a local drugstore.<\/em>**<\/p>\n

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Since this time of year, we’re all doing a little more baking and cooking (thus a higher potential for painful burns, haha!), I thought I’d do a post about something…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-natural-health"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1GpYg-nF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.organicmamacafe.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.organicmamacafe.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.organicmamacafe.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.organicmamacafe.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.organicmamacafe.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1467"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.organicmamacafe.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1486,"href":"https:\/\/www.organicmamacafe.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467\/revisions\/1486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.organicmamacafe.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.organicmamacafe.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.organicmamacafe.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}