When it comes to vitamins and supplements, the most important factor to consider is absorption- how well is your body able to assimilate and use those nutrients. That’s why it’s important to choose the best forms of certain vitamins since not all supplements are created equal.
A few new studies have come out that I wanted to share regarding aloe and it’s seemingly amazing benefits for increasing nutrient absorption. The research found that when aloe, in the form of aloe juice or gel (the gel performed the best), was ingested with vitamins, it increased the blood levels of the nutrients studied as much as 2000% in a study using Lily of the Desert aloe vera products (see the study here). There are also additional studies on increases in nutrient absorption after taking aloe on pub med (see the links here and here).
While the studies are still preliminary and have only researched aloe vera impacting a few different nutrients, the science is sound. Adding aloe vera juice or gel to your supplement regimen seems to make a lot of sense. Drinking 2 ounces of aloe juice or gel (the amount used in the studies) with the supplements you already take can increase their absorption by as much as 20 times than with supplements taken with water.
In addition to the documented benefits for increasing nutrient absorption, there are many other benefits for taking aloe juice or gel internally. Aloe is very soothing and healing to the digestive tract, and has benefits for heartburn, GERD, IBS, Crohn’s disease, colitis, and ulcers. It also has anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and antioxidant properties.