Anyone have experience with Aloe Vera Juice or Gel Caps?

[Eilonwy]

I'm looking into getting some Aloe Vera juice for my mom to try to help with her digestion and bowel movements. I've drank aloe juice in the past and it's not something I enjoyed. Does anyone have recommendations for a brand that might be more neutral tasting? Or would a concentrate be better because then I wouldn't have to make her drink a large amount and I could add it to her tea or water?

It's difficult for my mom to swallow capsules, but I'm looking into that as an option, too. Any suggestions or recommendations?

 

[Lexicon]

My mom's not elderly, but she did recently have lower back surgery/had a lot of digestive issues related to the painkillers she was on. Visiting nurses stressed that straining would cause potential issues with healing, so they listed a bunch of remedies. The most common/successful one was 8oz warm prune juice with a capful of Miralax (get from CVS/Walgreens, etc) mixed in, which has no texture or taste. It simply bulks up the water content/isn't your average short term irritating lax product. I know this isn't the aloe that you're looking for, but my mom reported good results when she had a lot of trouble, so.. figured I'd toss it out there. Warm prune juice on a regular basis also helps, without the added product. Also- worked for my mom & our dog- adding pumpkin to the diet.

 

[Eilonwy]

[MENTION=5159]Lexicon[/MENTION], thanks for those suggestions. I'm reluctant to give my mom stuff like Miralax, but I'll try the prune juice. And I completely forgot about pumpkin being a good source of fiber. The vet recommended it for my cats all the time, but the cats wouldn't eat it at all. Did the form of pumpkin matter?

Does warming the prune juice make a difference? (Since you emphasized *warm*)

 

[Lexicon]

[MENTION=5159]Lexicon[/MENTION], thanks for those suggestions. I'm reluctant to give my mom stuff like Miralax, but I'll try the prune juice. And I completely forgot about pumpkin being a good source of fiber. The vet recommended it for my cats all the time, but the cats wouldn't eat it at all. Did the form of pumpkin matter?

Does warming the prune juice make a difference? (Since you emphasized *warm*)

The nurses said the warm prune juice moves faster, I guess, and uh, softens things up better. My mom noticed a difference, though she found the taste unpleasant, but she dislikes cold prune juice as well.

I don't think the form of the pumpkin would matter. I mixed it into my dogs food (dogs will eat anything, though). My mom, I made a pumpkin pie (since I like it too, haha).

That Dannon Activia yogurt works remarkably well, too. You've mentioned your mom being on antibiotics intermittently due to UTI's (if I recall correctly)- it's always good to replace the good flora/keep it built up, so that's a bonus along with the bowel regularity.

 

[Eilonwy]

[MENTION=5159]Lexicon[/MENTION], my mom won't eat yogurt, but I do give her probiotics every day by hiding them in her food.

 

[Lexicon]

[MENTION=5159]Lexicon[/MENTION], my mom won't eat yogurt, but I do give her probiotics every day by hiding them in her food.

good plan! Yeah, there are some packets you can find, too. Bifidus for regularity, that you can add to drinks- no taste/texture. But you sound all set on that front.

 

[_eric_]

Put a quarter cup of this into a glass of juice (You don't need more than that since this is more concentrated than most aloe vera juice where you would need to use four times as much to get the same effect.); juice that has a sweeter taste masks the flavor of it better, I like using apple juice the best, I can barely taste it at all. Make sure to get this kind because it has no potassium sorbate (preservative) in it; I tried the kind that has it and it tastes stronger. I have used it a lot over the past year and a half (along with a few other natural supplements) to treat my GERD and heal the damage it caused to my esophagus (particularly the valve that opens into your stomach) and it works great, I am feeling way better now and I barely have any problems with it. It also most definitely helps move everything through your digestive system better, when taken regularly.

http://www.amazon.com/Aloe-Juice-Or...id=1368325337&sr=8-1&keywords=aloe+vera+juice

 

[Eilonwy]

[MENTION=16742]_eric_[/MENTION], thanks!

 

[Eilonwy]

[MENTION=5159]Lexicon[/MENTION], just a follow-up to let you know--since it's difficult to get my mom to drink anything consistently, and dried prunes are now difficult for her to chew, I decided to try stewed prunes and they are having a good effect. At the risk of TMI, things are coming out easier, but still not forming up very well, so I still have some experimenting to do. Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Lexicon]

[MENTION=5159]Lexicon[/MENTION], just a follow-up to let you know--since it's difficult to get my mom to drink anything consistently, and dried prunes are now difficult for her to chew, I decided to try stewed prunes and they are having a good effect. At the risk of TMI, things are coming out easier, but still not forming up very well, so I still have some experimenting to do. Thanks so much for your help!

Eh, nothing really grosses me out (I can watch surgery videos while eating dinner & be just fine)- so no worries about the TMI, haha. Glad it's helping, though. I've heard some pretty unpleasant stories about this topic from my friend who works in a nursing home- how sometimes he'd end up needing to manually manipulate things eventually.. I guess it can get pretty bad/painful/humiliating. If I think of anything else I'll toss it on this post. Actually I'll send him an email sometime soon/see if he has any recommendations. Might be good to stick to one thing [like the stewed prunes] for a little bit, see how her system reacts/gets moving, then see if it levels out over the next week or two, in terms of consistency. If things are.. backed up for awhile, the first few movements can vary in terms of how it's formed, but then it normalizes. (hopefully I'm not offering TMI here, haha). Just again, going by my mom's overly-detailed announcements after she'd finally go.

I wonder if you could get away with adding that Dannon Activia yogurt to a fruit & juice smoothie without her knowing.. the servings are really small, & I think they'd be undetectable.

 

[Eilonwy]

[MENTION=16742]_eric_[/MENTION], I got my mail-ordered bottle of the aloe vera juice you recommended (wow! big bottle for not much money!), so I'll be trying it out on my mom today. I tried some to see how it tasted and it's not bad. We'll see if I can sneak it by her consistently. She has GERD, so even if it doesn't have the desired effect on her BMs, managing the GERD will be a plus.


[MENTION=5159]Lexicon[/MENTION], nothing much grosses me out, either. My mom used to work in the ER and she would sometimes tell stories of the patients while we were eating. I don't remember much detail, but I do remember something about someone coming in with their eyeball hanging out of its socket, and something about intestines hanging out. I used to gross out my friends in middle school by relaying these tales during lunch!

 

[Lexicon]

[MENTION=5159]Lexicon[/MENTION], nothing much grosses me out, either. My mom used to work in the ER and she would sometimes tell stories of the patients while we were eating. I don't remember much detail, but I do remember something about someone coming in with their eyeball hanging out of its socket, and something about intestines hanging out. I used to gross out my friends in middle school by relaying these tales during lunch!

Reminds me of how I'd find pictures of leprosy patients in the encyclopedia in study hall and quietly show them to my friends, who'd freak out/get scolded for talking.

 

[Bamboo]

green smoothies work. make sure to blend it nice and smooth, plenty of leafy greens and a pear gives a nice texture, tastes good, good way to get a salad and fruit into your diet in a couple gulps and makes you poo quite nicely. comes out smooth, but it's not gross or anything and when you wipe it's one wipe clean! that's a clean white square folks. i'm pretty sure that counts as magic.

 

[Eilonwy]

green smoothies work. make sure to blend it nice and smooth, plenty of leafy greens and a pear gives a nice texture, tastes good, good way to get a salad and fruit into your diet in a couple gulps and makes you poo quite nicely. comes out smooth, but it's not gross or anything and when you wipe it's one wipe clean! that's a clean white square folks. i'm pretty sure that counts as magic.

My initial thought was, "mom won't drink it", but maybe I can spoon it to her instead. It's worth a try. What greens do you use?

And lol at the clean white square!


As for the aloe vera juice, mom seems to actually like it in her tea. The bottle said to put it in a cool drink, so I cheat a bit by getting the tea just tepid (instead of warm) and then adding the juice. I think she likes the citrus tang, because that's about all you can really taste (citric acid was used as a preservative). Have only been drinking it for a few days, so no noticeable results yet.

 

[kyuuei]

To help with the 'warm vs cold' thing... Generally it is harder and takes longer to digest cold things. The cold item will remain in your tummy until it is a suitable temperature for the body to digest. Whenever you are dehydrated you really should drink lukewarm to slightly warm water even if it is not as refreshing as cold water.

I also agree with the prune juice, and aloe vera is useful for like a hundred things. I have never used it for digestive problems, but it is a well known remedy for it.

 

[Eilonwy]

[MENTION=6168]Bamboo[/MENTION], my first green smoothie was a success! Thanks for the suggestion. I spoon-fed it to my mom and she liked it. It's a good way to get more liquids into her, also, instead of always giving her jello. I was even able to add the aloe vera juice to it. Yay!

 

[Bamboo]

Oh, good!

To answer your question above I typically use raw kale or spinich.