Geography

• Aloe vera is native to southern Africa.
  
  

History

• Aloe has been traditionally used as an herbal medicine. It has been used for thousands of years in the treatment of wounds, skin infections, and especially burns. A Sumerian tablet, written around B.C.E. 2200, listed Aloe Vera as a plant with great healing powers. An Egyptian papyrus, written around B.C.E. 1550, details twelve formulas for mixing aloe to treat illness. In about the year 60 A.D., the master of Roman pharmacology, Dioscorides, credited aloe with healing a host of illnesses, including boils and hemorrhoids.
  
  

Benefits

• Aloe is also used to treat eczema and ringworm.
  
  

Misconceptions

• The healing properties of aloe are not in the clear gel of the plant but in the green skin and yellow sap.
  
  

FDA Ruling

• In 2002, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the use of aloin (the yellow sap) for use in over-the-counter laxative products.