Dear Friends,
One of my pet peeves is marketing or advertisements that convince people they’re doing something good for their body, but in reality, the product is likely hurting their health.
Aloe vera drinks being sold by the truckload in stores and other places fall into this category. They are really just sugar water with a dusting of Aloe vera mixed in.
The amount of Aloe doesn’t really matter – because the amount of sugar in these drinks is almost certainly offsetting any health benefit Aloe vera could provide.
You may be thinking “well, I heard Aloe is good for digestion, skin and metabolic health, but I don’t like the taste of Aloe juice by itself – it doesn’t taste good.”
All of that is true, and after I explain why these Aloe drinks aren’t going to help you, I’ll give you a much better option that I think you’ll enjoy.
Up to 40 Grams of Sugar Per Serving!
Most of these Aloe drinks define a serving as 8oz and add 20 to 25 grams of sugar to it – which is way more than you should be consuming in a so-called “health drink.”
I was looking at a brand recently that declared the entire 16oz bottle as 1 serving, and there’s over 40 grams of added sugar in it – which is an insane amount of sugar.
You’re supposed to consume no more than 50 grams of sugar a day from all foods and drinks, and this Aloe vera drink alone is giving you 80% of that, and over 170 empty calories.
To put this in perspective, you could recreate this by pouring 16 ounces of water into a large glass, get a teaspoon and the sugar bowl from your kitchen and start scooping spoons of sugar into the water.
When you to get 10 scoops of sugar, you can stop – that’s how much sugar is in this Aloe vera drink.
Sugar Offsets the Benefits of Aloe Vera
The sad part is Aloe vera does have a lot to offer you – the plant species has survived on Earth for over 3,000 years – but all that sugar neutralizes any benefits from its health properties.
For example, we know Aloe vera can help digestive health in several ways, but excessive sugar intake is one of the biggest enemies to your gut health.
You likely know the importance of maintaining a healthy balance of good bacteria versus harmful bacteria in the intestines for digestive health – it’s the reason we take probiotics and the prebiotics that nourish them.
Sugar works to upset that balance and is more likely to increase the population of bad microorganisms, which is bad for digestion and overall wellness.
What’s more, sugar also weakens intestinal barrier function, which contributes to what’s called “leaky gut.” This intestinal barrier helps to keep unwanted substances and toxins out of the bloodstream, so you want to optimize its function, not weaken it.
Aloe can also help the skin – even from within – but excessive sugar intake can hurt the appearance of your complexion and cause the skin to age prematurely.
When it comes to metabolic health, Aloe can help support healthy blood sugar metabolism and already healthy cholesterol levels.
All this extra sugar can wipe away those benefits – you don’t support blood sugar health by drinking 20, 30 or 40 grams of added sugar.
Hopefully, you now see why these high sugar drinks are a bad way to consume Aloe vera. Let’s now review what I think is a better option.
Delicious and Nutritious
At NatureCity, many of our clients use a sugar-free drink powder, which combines organic Aloe vera, 5 grams of dietary fiber and whole cranberry powder.
In addition to the many benefits of Aloe vera, the dietary fiber helps digestive health by acting as a prebiotic and supports healthy bowel movements. The cranberry provides antioxidant support and also supports urinary tract health.
We add some natural raspberry flavor which seems to work well with the cranberry and Aloe, and for some sugar-free sweetness to round out the flavor, we include small amounts of monk fruit and stevia extract.
You add a scoop of the powder to 8 oz of water, and you get a nutritious and delicious sugar-free Aloe drink, with just 15 calories – all from the dietary fiber.
This powder is called AloeCran – and comes in a 30-serving jar.
Some clients combine AloeCran with other drink mixes or shakes. Personally I mix it with our TrueBerry7 super fruit drink mix – and drink it at my desk.
I love that combination, but you can use it any way that works for you – we’ve had clients mix it with oatmeal (can’t speak to that one personally) and other foods. Just don’t cook it, because sustained high heat harms the nutrients in the Aloe vera.
Summary of Benefits
Here are some of the highlights of the ingredients in AloeCran:
One of the ways Aloe vera supports stomach and digestive health is by helping to balance stomach acid levels.
Too much stomach acid is bad and can cause discomfort, but too little stomach acid is also bad, and can interfere with the digestion process. Aloe vera helps your body find a healthy balance.
In addition, the specific Aloe vera we use in AloeCran has been shown to help increase the absorption and bioavailability of nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin B12 and vitamin E compared to a placebo group – and by a significant margin too.
So you can use AloeCran to take your vitamin supplements, or even drink it during meals since the dietary fiber helps blunt the post-meal spike in blood sugar (so it does the opposite of what those sugar filled Aloe drinks we discussed earlier do).
This is important for metabolic health and supporting already-healthy blood sugar and cholesterol levels, which the Aloe vera in AloeCran can also do.
Last, I’ll share a little tidbit about the cranberry powder we use in AloeCran to illustrate the quality.
UTI Support?
A few years ago, the FDA issued what they call a qualified claim for cranberry supplements and urinary tract infections, which reads:
“Limited scientific evidence shows that by consuming 500 mg each day of cranberry dietary supplement, healthy women who have had a urinary tract infection (UTI) may reduce their risk of recurrent UTI”.
So the FDA is saying it’s not definite, but some evidence indicates 500mg of cranberry powder can help reduce the recurrence of UTIs.
The key point I want you to know is one of the main studies used by the FDA to approve that qualified claim utilized the same cranberry powder you get in AloeCran (you get the exact 500mg found to be helpful).
So in AloeCran, you’re getting a combination of top-notch ingredients, plus it’s sugar-free, all of which makes it a wonderful way to consume Aloe vera as a drink.
Give it a try, I think you’ll love it.
Yours for Good Health,
Carl Pradelli
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