Are you Bound Up, Wound
Up? Unwind with Wordplay Wednesday™ June 24, 2015
Sometimes your stress
level by Wednesday causes your body to bind up and refuse to cooperate. Do you
turn to a “natural” laxative to relieve your tension?ALOIN – n. a bitter, crystalline cathartic [laxative] prepared from the aloe.
Ah,
drag your minds outta the gutter ladies and gents. It is not something to rub on one side of your loins … pronounced AL-O-IN, it’s a chameleon of the
medicinal plant world. At once, beneficial but quite possibly deadly.
And you might have
recognized the first three letters as part of “aloe,” a soothing, medicinal plant
that protects and heals. Well, ALOIN is
prepared from the aloe rind, however, beware
… its properties are vastly different from the gel we know and love, and can be toxic. What's the difference ... ?
While
some use the milky, yellowish brown sap from the outer edges of the aloe vera leaf
as a natural laxative, it is not consistent in concentration, thus not reliable
as to how much to consume. Some scientific reports have even gone so far as to call it carcinogenic.
So
… how is it that aloe vera is such a
wonderful boon for our bodies?
The highly touted aloe
vera gel, for instance, comes from the inner “meaty” portion of the leaf, to
provide all sorts of beneficial products.
As
I researched this word, m’friends, I was astounded to learn that those of us
who get over hump day with Happy Hour, may have a bona fide reason for a tardy Thursday
morning at work. It appears ALOIN is still considered a “natural substance” for
use in foods – and liquor. Yup, it is a flavoring in alcoholic libations in “quite
small quantities” and might only be listed as a “natural flavor.”
 |
| 39ers often imbibe aloin! |
Hmmm
– quite small quantities – depends on how many libations you consume!
The aloe vera plant is
one of nature’s mystic tricks – what seems poisonous and forbidding on the
outside, disguises and protects the magical elixir that soothes and heals.
Bottom
line – if you cultivate and use an aloe vera plant, be informed before rubbing
it on or ingesting it, especially if you plan to utilize the ALOIN. Cheers to your health!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Only intelligent, non-abusive comments (preferably with humor), will be published. Thank you for your interest!