Aloe vera

Studies in people

• Open question

  Blood sugar control⁴

  In people with prediabetes, aloe vera may lower blood sugar and cholesterol, but the evidence is weak and inconclusive.

• Open question

  Digestive and metabolic health⁵

  In people, there are too few good studies on aloe vera to know if it helps.

• Benefit

  Colds and flu protection⁶

  In adults, drinking aloe vera gel did not boost flu vaccine protection but cut down repeat colds.

• Benefit

  Blood sugar and weight⁹

  In obese people with prediabetes or early untreated diabetes, aloe vera gel complex lowered body weight, body fat, and insulin resistance.

Animal and lab studies only

• Benefit

  Weight gain and body fat¹⁴

  In animal studies, aloe vera gel extract led to less weight gain and less fat buildup.

• Benefit

  Colon cancer risk¹⁵

  In animal studies, aloe vera gel powder and extract cut early colon growths in mice fed a high-fat diet.

• Benefit

  Gut health¹⁶

  In lab studies, aloe vera mucilage may help gut bacteria from six healthy people make short chain fatty acids.

Study type not stated

• Open question

  Heart health¹⁰

  Aloe vera gel has been studied for heart benefits, but scientists do not yet know whether it truly helps.

• No harm found

  DNA damage from drinks¹¹

  Aloe vera in drinkable products was tested and did not show DNA damage.

• Open question

  Health effects still unproven¹²

  More research is needed to confirm whether aloe vera's helpful effects are real.

Single cases of misuse or overdose

One person or one incident, such as an accidental overdose or a mistake in a kitchen or factory. They are real, but a single case does not show what happens at normal amounts, so the signal does not count them.

• Liver injury from supplements³

  A 68-year-old woman's liver injury was tied to eating aloe vera, and her tests returned to normal after she stopped.

• Blocked bowel⁷

  A person got a blocked bowel from aloe vera bezoars, which a scan missed.

How it’s made and used

• Immune system response⁸

  In people, drinking a blend with aloe vera changed immune cell activity within hours.

• Filtering removes toxins¹³

  Unfiltered aloe vera gels held far more aloin than filtered ones, which stayed below detection limits.

• Gut bacteria and digestion¹⁷

  In lab studies, aloe vera changed how gut bacteria grew and made fatty acids.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.

Expert panels that weigh all the research. Shown for context: the signal at the top does not count them. IARC rates whether something can cause cancer at all, not how likely it is at the amounts in food.

• WHO cancer agency (IARC), 2013

  For aloe vera whole-leaf extract: possibly causes cancer in people (Group 2B).