Amalaki — The Divine Fruit of Rejuvenation
Amalaki (Indian gooseberry, Emblica officinalis) is Ayurveda's supreme Rasayana herb — the fruit that is said to be so healing that even the great sage Chyavana was rejuvenated by it.
Amalaki (Emblica officinalis, also known as Amla or Indian Gooseberry) is perhaps the single most celebrated Rasayana in Ayurveda. It is the primary ingredient in Triphala (along with Haritaki and Bibhitaki), the most widely used Ayurvedic formulation, and in Chyawanprash, the ancient rejuvenative jam. Amalaki contains the highest natural concentration of vitamin C of any fruit (20 times more than an orange, and heat-stable unlike most vitamin C sources), as well as gallic acid, ellagic acid, chebulic acid, and numerous other polyphenols with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and adaptogenic properties. It pacifies all three doshas — an extremely rare quality — making it universally applicable. Clinical research has validated its effects on blood glucose regulation, cholesterol management, gastric acid secretion, liver protection, and immune enhancement.
Amalaki is the best of all Rasayana herbs — it pacifies all three doshas and gives all the fruits of rejuvenation.
Clinical trials have confirmed Amalaki's broad therapeutic profile: a 2011 study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed it significantly reduced total cholesterol and LDL; studies in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology have demonstrated liver-protective, anti-diabetic, and immunomodulatory effects.
Charaka Samhita
Written about in
- What Ayurveda says about growing old
Amalaki is the first-named rejuvenative and one of very few substances said to pacify all three doshas at once. It is the base of both Triphala and Chyawanprash, and it is rich in vitamin C and in polyphenols — gallic, ellagic and chebulic acid — with trials crediting it for lowered total cholesterol and LDL.