Without her coffee in the morning, culinary artist Pia Lim-Castillo would get a headache. However, it came to a point that coffee was making her digestive system very acidic. She could only swallow a piece of toast.

One day, former classmate Isabel Gonzales Quiros, a distributor of AloeCure, a line of quality health supplements and skin care products made from aloe vera, suggested an elixir for hyperacidity. Castillo immediately felt the benefits.

“It has calmed down my digestive system. I no longer get an upset stomach. I take AloeCure to prepare my stomach for the day,” says Castillo.

Now she can enjoy her Pinoy breakfast of fried rice, tinapa and coffee, and has more energy to conduct her cooking classes. She adds that friends afflicted with hyperacidity or acid reflux have been drinking coffee again after taking AloeCure.

Castillo also takes AloeCure’s chunks, which she says are more palatable than another brand offered in health food store. “I put it in my yogurt. When I add them to the fruit salad, people think it’s kaong,” she says.

Ever since AloeCure was launched in the Philippines last October, the sales have been phenomenal. In the first three months, Organic Basket, the Philippine distributor, gathered over 500 dealers.

Natural buffer

When her accessory business was hit by the global recession, entrepreneur Bettina Osmeña  looked for an alternative venture. Weary of the tediousness of joining foreign shows, she wanted a business she could work from home.

A few years ago, Osmeña survived breast cancer through a mastectomy, without  chemotherapy and radiation. Although she consumed mega-vitamins and health supplements and became more careful with her diet, she still experienced acid reflux and popped antacids for years.

In a health trade fair in the US, a tarpaulin sign showing a fire hydrant declaring that AloeCure could extinguish heartburn caught her attention. Back in Manila, she tried the product. After a month of taking AloeCure twice daily, she was off the antacid she had been taking for years.

With  friend Quiros, they formed Organic Basket. “We were looking for a business together. What better way than to go back to basics than wellness? We’re helping people to get healthy and take something good for the body,” says Quiros, Organic Basket’s vice president.

The core product is AloeCure juice. “It’s an acid buffer which is perfect for GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease), ulcers or any gastrointestinal disorder. Aside from alleviating symptoms, you get 200 vitamins, minerals and amino acids,” says Osmeña.

Research has indicated that the aloe vera plant contains enzymes, sugars, lignin (an organic substance that binds cells), saponin, salicylic acid, amino acids, essential oils, amino acids and complex molecules. These active ingredients make a potent painkiller, a remedy for inflammation, and a booster of the immune system. Hence they also soothe the linings of the digestive tract, control toxic compounds from entering the liver and prevent the formation of kidney stones.

AloeCure contains malic calcium, a natural defense against high acidity in the stomach. It arrests the hydrogen atoms that overstimulate the hydrocholoric acid in the stomach. The malic calcium neutralizes stomach acid production so that the nutrients can be assimilated and the bacteria is destroyed.

Cleanser

AloeCure also has polysaccharides that moisturize the skin. As aloe penetrates the skin, it energizes the fibroblasts to reproduce more quickly, thereby generating more collagen and elastin to improve the skin tone. The aloe also has a binding effect on the cells of the outer layer of the skin, making it more taut. This is why Osmeña’s friends pointed out the improvement on her skin tone.

Quiros has benefited from AloeCure’s internal cleansing products. People with constipation swear by them. The leaf extract or sap contains anthraquinones, an organic compound with a powerful laxative effect. The aloe vera chunks facilitate the movement of food through the bowel. With improved protein digestion and absorption, an increase in water in the stool makes it bulkier.

Quiros lost some 20 lbs and dropped from size 16 to 12 with AloeCure, coupled with classes in Plana Forma. “It flushes out the yucky stuff you eat. You keep going to the bathroom,” she warns.

Although there are many aloe vera products on the market, Osmeña points out that AloeCure has undergone the most stringent certification from Ecocert. This European organization demands that manufacturers such as American Global Health Group, makers of AloeCure, do not use chemicals in cultivating their ingredients. The fertilizers are organic and there are no chemical residues from herbicides or pesticides. The manufacturing process has preserved the integrity of aloe vera’s compounds, particularly the polysaccharides and the aloin which acts on  nature’s defense system.

Asked if Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, Bettina’s husband, benefits from Aloe Cure, she replies, “He uses the shampoo and cleanser. I make him drink AloeCure with his orange juice. He looks good for his age.”

Call 632-888ALOE (2563) or e-mail [email protected].