Aloe Gloe--Gloe from within

  The photo above, while not the best quality due to the smoke, is my lovely Mr. Aloe plant. You've probably used the Aloe Vera plant for minor injuries such as burns or scrapes. However, you can also ingest the innards of the Aloe Plant. Aloe Gloe sells their Certified Organic aloe vera gel inner leaf powder in drink form. Aloe Gloe drink comes in both the pulp-free version or with the pulp. Aloe Gloe comes in White Grape flavor, in the purple capped bottle or the Original green lidded bottle, which doesn't have an actual name for the flavor, but to me has a subtle apple taste. All low in calories, each bottle (15.2 OZ)  only contains 35 calories.

Aloe Gloe's Story straight from their webpage:

"For us this about much more than just a beverage.  We started Aloe Gloe because we are passionate about Health & Sustainability.  Aloe Gloe was started by three friends who met while working for The Coca-Cola Company in Southern California, we made a decision a few years back to get healthy.  We love the beverage business, but we are more inspired to build a sustainable company that enables people to be healthy everyday.  While surfing in Manhattan Beach, co-founder Danny Stepper had an accident and gashed open his forehead.  After getting stitches, his Doctor prescribed Aloe Vera both topically and for ingesting (drinking).  After unsuccessfully searching for a low calorie, all natural aloe vera beverage, Stepper, Sarti and Bolden decided to source and make their own. Recognizing that all available options were unsustainably shipped over seas from Asia, and very high calorie, the team found a way to do it locally in California. In October of 2011 Aloe Gloe was born."

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    I took a photo of the Aloe Gloe. The bottle almost looks empty, but if you look closely, you can see that there is liquid in there, it's just very clear. I expected the Aloe Gloe drink to have a yellow/green color to it since a lot of aloe drinks are of a neon color. When you cut an aloe plant, you'll see the clear inner gel and you'll see a neon yellow/green color leak out, which sometimes appearls foamy white.

 That is called latex and upon researching other aloe drinks on the market, I found that most do contain the latex as well as the aloe gel. Latex from an aloe plant is a known intestinal irritant so for people like me who suffer from sensitive digestive systems or those with IBS, Crohn's or similar issues should absolutely avoid latex! It also causes diarrhea in some people. Aloe Gloe does not contain latex and is not irritating to the stomach. 

In fact, Aloe Vera has amazing benefits for digestive problems as well as thousands of other health problems, which I'll get to in a minute. Those of you who have been with me for a while, have read about my journey and suffering with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and endometriosis. 

  MY HISTORY WITH IBS and ENDOMETRIOSIS

  I'll make a very long story short here. In my early teens, I began suffering with extreme symptoms around my menstrual cycle. The females in my family have a history of all sorts of yucky reproductive system issues ranging from PMS, PMDD, and everything in between. Each of them have had surgery to prevent pain or provide relief.

 I was only a teenager (22 at the time of writing this),  so a hysterectomy, whether partial or entire, was my last resort only. When my cycle came around, I was confined to two places for around 2 weeks each month. Those two places were the bed or the restroom. Everything I did was unpleasant and even eating caused me pain. I simply had no choice but to stay in. That meant a lot of missed school and as I got older and the problems got worse, it meant I had pretty much no life. 

  Right before my 16th birthday, I began getting  really ill. I was someone who never had anything more than a runny or stuffy nose. No colds, no flu, I was never sick unless it was time for my menstrual cycle or the occasional stomach virus. The few months before I turned 16, I lost a lot of weight and eventually went from 125 pounds to 70 pounds in less than 5 months. I kept coming down with colds and always felt deathly sick and lethargic. At 70 pounds, I was lucky if I made it from my house to the store without feeling like I had ran a marathon. I rarely left the house. I rarely ate because eating always, always made me sick  as a dog. 

  One day, I woke up sicker than ever. I had a nasty cough and felt the normal stomach problems. I was just getting out of the shower when my hands and face went stiff and I felt sick. I thought I was going to throw up so I was over the toilet and called my brother in law for help. Before he got to me, my hands, legs and face were totally stiff, they felt paralyzed and I literally could not move my body. I had made it to the couch and was having what I later found out was a panic attack. Apparently, the intense stomach issues had caused me anxiety. When my brother got to me, I was screaming in the middle of my breaths and couldn't stop the screams. I thought I was dying and later, he admitted that he had the same fears. He could hear me screaming before pulling into my driveway. 

  I promised I'd be short so I'll try and wrap my story up. My brother and boyfriend and dad got me to the emergency room where they diagnosed me with bronchitis, laryngitis, anemia and possibly anorexia, which was not the case. I had not been forcing myself to be sick for weight loss, I simply could not eat. I wanted to badly, but wasn't able to. The stomach problems were a mystery to the doctors. They sent me somewhere to see another doctor who thought I had cysts on my ovaries. The ultra sound showed that the only thing wrong with my ovaries were one larger than the other. I went another couple of years undiagnosed. I finally researched on my own until I found what matched my problems: endometriosis or IBS. 

Ultimately, I went back to the doctor and told them about that. They agreed that my symptoms matched and tested with more ultra sounds and such. Eventually my ob/gyn was sure that it was endometriosis and performed surgery a year ago (last May). 

  The surgeon said that it was too complicated to remove all the endometrial tissue so there was some still left far inside there. He put me on injections to stop my menstrual cycle and in turn, help prevent tissue growth. I felt amazing for a week after surgery. It was like all my problems disappeared! Not two weeks later, still with incisions, my twin sister was on the phone with my surgeon while I was screaming in pain. He prescribed me Donnatall for IBS. Yep, not only did I have endometriosis, but apparently endometriosis likes to come along with a friend, IBS. I was humiliated and wouldn't tell anybody that I had those problems for a very long time. 

  The Donnatall seemed to help a bit, but I was still suffering more than not. Plus, I was ordered to take 4 pills a day and I could not even stay awake on one pill. I simply could not take them and have a life out of bed. They make me like a zombie. I never did take any more than one a day, but started searching for another source for relief.

  I don't remember how I came across the Aloe Vera for relieving my problems, but it was last summer, nearly a year ago, right after I had began trying coconut oil to cure me. The coconut oil was a helpful, but gave me awful herxheimer symptoms each time I ate it. I finally bought aloe in pill form and a week later was beginning a life. Not a month into my aloe journey and some of my family members, my boyfriend and I had formed a little group. We'd spend several nights a week traveling short distances and visiting fun, haunted places while taking photos. This was something I was not able to do before.

  So, I quickly realized that Aloe was my miracle, but at $30 a bottle, that was not realistic. I kept searching and reading about Aloe in drink form. I found some of them like Aloe Gloe to actually be affordable and had really wanted to try it. I took that one bottle of Aloe pills from last summer and didn't have much problems again until the past few months. I've had all these dental problems as you guys probably know, and being on antibiotics since last November caused me new flare ups and symptoms of IBS! I rarely suffer with the endometriosis anymore. So I knew I had to get more aloe.

  Now, I've been drinking the Aloe Gloe for around 2 weeks, I believe. A month ago I was having a lot of flare ups and was down in the bed, sick for the first time since last summer. Since two weeks ago, I've already had a drastic improvement with drinking Aloe Gloe. I've had not a single bit of pain, even with my menstrual cycle, which always gives me some problems! When it comes time for the injections I get to help with those issues, I usually get very sick for a few days until I've had the shot. I was due back for it and guess what? I showed up a week and 5 days later! This is the first time I've been able to wait that long for the shot! Normally I have to go the very day I'm able. I have two weeks to get it from the date they give me. I waited until the last day without a single symptom! It was wonderful. I keep up with the date I'm due back by stomach problems. When it's time for it, my stomach and digestive system really act up days before and this time, I didn't feel anything and almost missed my appointment! That's big for me.

  Now I've went through 6 bottles of Aloe Gloe. I haven't drank it every single day, but whenever I remember. I'm feeling like a normal person again. I don't have to worry about the digestive issues and IBS or endometriosis pain. I still have my menstrual cycle symptoms, but they don't deter me from going to work, school and anything else. I've actually never known this kind of life.

  I'm such a strong believer in the healing benefits of aloe that I recommend it constantly. I tell my family all the time that aloe has been my "miracle."

 My mom jokes when people complain of an ailment (tummy troubles, disease, etc) that "Kendra will make you drink Aloe for that!" So many people don't really believe me I think, but my family, boyfriend and friends have seen me go from a person who cried in pain all the time to someone who's happy and can get out and do anything any time of day. 

  
                             TASTE OF ALOE GLOE

  OK, I know my huge sappy aloe story is long. I contemplated even going into detail about it again since it's so long and I don't want to bore you guys, but I truly felt that it was necessary. Others who suffer from the same things I have are miserable and scared and desperate for help. I don't think this post would've been complete without me taking the time to share that part of me here. If you skip over it, that's OK. I only wanted it to be here in case someone else is in need of help.

  Now, the biggest question we have when we're going to drink something new is "how does it taste." Ya'll didn't think I'd leave that out now did you? 

  I'll admit, after reading what I have about aloe's taste, I fully expected to have to hold my breath and down the Aloe Gloe, then chase it with Dr. Pepper. I first tried the White Grape flavor. Barely putting it to my lips, I let a dribble hit my tongue before taking a big, long swig. The taste was impressive. If you didn't know any better, you'd think you were drinking a lightly flavored water. 

Aloe Gloe isn't thick and slimy like it is straight from the plant. It's thin and easy to swallow like water. Like I said, the kind I tried had no pulp in it, but now that I'm good with Aloe Gloe's taste, I'll definitely buy one with pulp to try. I know I'll buy the without pulp, but I really don't think the pulp will be bad. Today I sliced up some of my own Aloe plant and swallowed a sliver along with the Aloe Gloe drink (extra benefits, maybe?) and it wasn't bad at all. 

  You'll notice in the photo of the opened Aloe Gloe, that the color is clear. I think that helps a lot. I just don't think I'd be able to drink it if it were that yellow green color. I'm really weird about that. You could even trick yourself or others into thinking Aloe Gloe isn't even a healthy drink. It tastes so much like a sweetened, flavored water. To give you an idea of just how tolerable Aloe Gloe is, I've given a drink of it to my 2 year old niece and she loved it! My 13 year old nephew will drink it without problem as well. 

  Aloe Gloe is lightly sweetened with Certified Organic Stevia. It doesn't have that icky artificial sweetness to it like some of those artificial drink sweeteners do. Only sometimes I can notice the Stevia taste, but it's pleasant. The flavor isn't strong, it's similar to what you'd taste in a flavored water. It's not as strong as a juice. If for some reason, which I doubt, you didn't like the taste, you could add it into a smoothie or other fruity drink and never taste it. 


  As for the original flavor (in the green capped bottle) it has the same consitency and light flavor, only the flavor is somewhat apple-y. It's hard to notice though.

 I usually hate the flavor of apple, but I ended up liking the original flavor better than the White Grape, but not by much. Ever so often, when I get to the very last drink in the bottle of the White Grape, I'll notice a light taste. It's hard to put my finger on it, but I know it's the aloe in it because the aloe pills I used to take had the same taste. It probably would go undetected had I not recognized it from the pill form I had taken. It's nothing that would deter you from drinking it though.
  


INGREDIENTS:
water, certified organic aloe vera gel inner leaf powder, Certified Organic Cane Sugar, Certified Organic Stevia, Malic Acid, Natural Flavors.

BENEFITS

ALOE GLOE contains Vitamins c&e, it aids in blood chemistry and viscosity (I.E. sticky blood) helps PH balance, skin rejuvenation, antibacterial and anti viral compounds which helps with IBS and other fungal infections.

Straight from the webpage: 

"Aloe Vera contains more than 200 biologically active amino acids, vitamins, antioxidants, enzymes and minerals that have been clinically proven to improve skin and cardiovascular health. Our certified organic Aloe Vera is delicately processed to retain the bioactive component of Aloe Vera responsible for promoting healthy skin, a healthy digestive system and a strengthened immune system. "










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