Anyone Remembers Sabila?

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My grandma made sure she had a lot of it on her doorsteps. They were usually in small clay pots--about 6 inches in diameter--and she religiously watered it daily until it grew more stems. She called it Sabila. Later, after college, I learned that it was aloe vera. Much later, I learned that it has anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and regenerative properties--definitely among herbs and plants in the Philippines and Asia that captured my attention!

No wonder my grandma always picked a stem, squeezed the thick sap out, and applied that on my head daily. I used to have a lot of bald spots on my head due to scars from boil wounds. The boils would pop up and create wounds that would result to scars where hair refused to grow. But with my grandma's persistence and patience, the scar marks gradually grew hair so that eventually, my head had no more bald spots. In fact, healthy hair started growing on it.

Lots of men my age have balding heads but mine has full hair. It's probably still a result of my grandma's years of applying sabila on my head. My mom later picked up where my grandma left of. She grew sabila or aloe vera, too, on clay pots and empty cans and we continued applying it on our heads to grow hair better. It is also said to be a good remedy for skin burns, dandruff and falling hair. Gently massage the scalp (or affected skin part) with it regularly and see results after some weeks. In some parts of the Middle East, it is said to be used for diabetes.

My grandma and mom (and now my sister-in-law) also used it as ornamental plants. They look like green tentacles jutting out of the clay pot, like an octopus trapped in a clay pot. You can easily pick a tentacle or stem and use that on your skin. Just make sure the plant is safe from cat urine, or else you might suffer infection rather than cure. The sabila sap feels extra cool and soothing, though sticky. Let it stay there overnight and then wash it off the next day. The plant will keep on growing new stems if watered right. It doesn't need  a lot of water--just enough per day. Don't drown it.

Well, some people mix it with their drinks for cleansing, but I don't know how they do it. Sabila is said to have digestive, immune, and some heart health benefits, but beware of its diarrhea side effect. It can make your stool too soft or even watery if taken in the wrong measure. I'd rather just apply it topically.