If you have been following this thread, you may have noticed that I haven’t posted in a while.  The usual suspects, the holidays, too busy to write, ran out of Aloe and haven’t gotten around to re-ordering.  So I don’t have much to report.

Except . . . what I miss about Aloe.

My skin is dry again.

I love the Aloe lotion, which I still have.  It makes my skin feel great.  But I miss the hydration from the inside that I got from taking the Aloe internally.  Also, the kids and I got the stomach flu.  Yuck.  That was two weeks ago and my body is still coming back into balance.  Could we have skipped that interlude if we hadn’t stopped taking Aloe?  Of course there’s no way to know that; however, there is one thing I know and that is that I’m re-ordering my Aloe today.

I got my shipment of aloe.

I tried it.  It didn’t taste bad . . . but not so good either.

At least, not to me.  My eldest son wouldn’t have anything to do with it, but my middle and youngest sons were really excited about it.  My youngest son asked for seconds and when I warned that you shouldn’t take too much or it might cause your bowels to move more than usual, they both begged for more.  Who can fathom the workings of little boys’ minds?

For myself, I’ll see if it’s an acquired taste.  Meanwhile, is it OK to add it to another juice to make it more to my liking?  I found one site that suggested adding aloe gel to orange juice.  I tried it . . . yumm!

I can do this.

I also received in my shipment some aloe body care products.  My hands had become extremely dry and chapped in the cold dry weather and I felt delighted by how quickly the lotion soothed my hands.  I was surprised too by how quickly they made a significant difference in how my eldest son’s hands looked and felt.   Yaay!

Trina Brunk

Ten years ago when I lived in Colorado, a good friend of mine named Bill invited me to try adding Aloe Vera to my diet, to help enhance my health.  I was 30 then, and didn’t think I needed any help with my health.  I was fine, thank you very much.   I figured I would get what I needed from my reasonably healthy diet.  I didn’t think much about it afterward.

Fast forward, ten years later.  I’m 40 now.  Moved to mid-Missouri in 2005, had 3 babies (the oldest is 8), a divorce and a major career change (I recently activated a lifelong dream of being a professional musician).  I am re-inventing my life from the questions — what is truly important to me?  How would my life look if I decided that my dreams and ideas and gifts mattered?  What would happen if I “let go of the shore” (thanks, Karen Drucker) and committed to loving myself?

A few months back I reconnected with Bill and his lovely wife Darla.  Instead of aging, Bill looks the same — actually, maybe younger than he did ten years ago.  Interesting.  I wish I could say the same about myself.  I’m not being mean to myself, but seriously, 3 kids and 10 years has an effect.

Bill asked me to help him set up this blog, since that is what I do on the side to supplement my musician income. As I set it up, I started to do a little research on Aloe and found things that made me sit up and pay attention.  When I was growing up, Mom always kept an aloe plant handy to use when one of us kids would get burned, so I knew about that benefit.  But, could drinking Aloe daily really give me more energy?  Frankly, I could use a hand in the energy department some days.  Other benefits like enhanced circulation, digestive support and help with sinusitis and hydration were intriguing.  I found one web site that claimed that Aloe has been used successfully to treat rheumatoid arthritis.  I sent that link immediately to a friend who’s been suffering.  The more I poke around on the web, the more claims I see about Aloe.  Is it really the miracle that people are saying it is?  And if it’s not, why does it show up so prominently in so many indigenous healing traditions?

I had set out only to set up the structure of Bill’s blog and get him started.  I didn’t expect to find all of the extravagant health claims that are out there on Aloe.  Are they real?  Can they honestly be true?  After several months of sitting on the sidelines, I made a decision.  As part of my “re-inventing Trina’s life” project, I will try aloe for 3 months, and see what differences, if any, I experience.  I will do the research and log it here.  I’ll let you know what it’s like for me and I invite your comments and suggestions as I move forward.

And I need to make it perfectly clear, right now as I begin, that I’m not a scientist, in the health professions, or a professional researcher.  While I am obviously biased in the direction of optimism regarding Aloe Vera based on what I’ve observed about Bill and Darla, I do intend to approach this exploration with healthy skepticism and curiosity and willingness to see various viewpoints.  Most importantly, I hope that sharing my personal experience here is helpful to you as you decide what is right for you.