Someone asked me the other day if I like matcha.
No. I have something better. And we Indians have had it forever.
It is amla. Our humble Indian gooseberry.
Now everybody will tell you amla is good. Amla is good, amla is good. But nobody is telling you how much to have, when to have it, in what form, and what to do if you cannot get it fresh.
So that is what I am going to tell you here. Exactly what I tell my patients.
First, what amla actually is in Ayurveda
In Charaka Samhita, amalaki is placed in the vayasthapana mahakashaya. That is the group of ten drugs classified as age sustaining.
Age sustaining. Not anti-ageing. There is a difference, and Ayurveda made that difference two thousand years back.
Now here is what most people get wrong. Amla tastes sour. So everybody assumes it is heating.
It is not.
Amalaki is sheeta virya. Cold in potency. And madhura vipaka. Sweet after digestion. This is what Bhavaprakasha Nighantu tells us.
So, both of these are going against what your tongue is telling you. Your tongue says sour, your mind says heating. But that is not what is happening inside. And this is exactly why amla calms pitta, when almost every other sour thing will increase it.
And that sweetness you feel in your mouth after eating amla, especially when you drink water on top of it? That is not vipaka.
Vipaka is happening hours later, in your tissues. People mix up these two all the time.
The best form is the fruit. Always.
One amla a day itself is great. That is the whole thing.
If fresh amla is naturally available to you, please have it like that. Do not overthink it. Do not go looking for a supplement. The fruit is the best form and nothing beats it.
And amla comes in the cold season. That is not by accident. Nature is giving it to you exactly when you need it, so that is when you should be having it.
So, when it is in season, eat it. Every day. Your body knows what to do with it.
If you cannot get fresh amla, then powder
Now most of you reading this are not in India. I know. Half of my patients are in places where amla is only available as a powder in a packet.
That is okay. Powder works. But please listen to me about the quality.
Get organic. Get good quality. And I mean really check.
Because we have no idea where these people are drying it. We have no idea where they are powdering it. We have no idea what it went through before it came into that nice looking jar.
So, if you are not sure about the source, better to avoid it. Really. Do not have it at all rather than having something you cannot trace.
But if you are sure, if you know where it was dried and how it was powdered and how authentic it is, then go ahead. Find the best quality you can.
I know I am dragging on too much about quality. I know. But this is more important than the dose, more important than the timing, more important than anything else in this whole article. A bad powder is not a weaker amla. It is a completely different thing.
How much: one teaspoon of powder mixed into your food. That is the easiest way and the safest way, and this is what I tell most of my patients.
Amla juice, please read this part carefully
You can have amla as a juice. But as a shot. Not as a glass.
Never drink a full glass of amla juice. Please. Do not take ten, fifteen amlas and make a big juice out of it and sit and drink it. Do not do it.
Instead do this:
- Crush two or three amlas
- Add a little water
- Add pepper, turmeric, dry ginger
- A little Himalayan pink salt
- If you do not like the salt, add mishri or rock sugar instead
And have it like a shot. Not more than 25 ml.
That is it. Every day in the morning. That is enough.
Timing and Anupana
Morning is good. Have your shot in the morning.
If you have a very strong acidic stomach, then have it after food. It works just as well and it is gentler on you.
Anupana for amla is always water. Keep it simple.
And there is one more way which I love, and most people have not even heard of it. Take amla powder, mix it with a little ghee, and have it with the first morsels of rice at lunch time.
Beautiful way to take it. You can do the same at dinner also.
Now, amla does not cause acidity
I have to correct this one, because I am hearing it constantly.
Amla does not cause acidity. It cannot. Once it goes into your stomach it cools down and it turns into sweet taste. It is not going to heat you and it is not going to burn you.
It actually reduces acidity.
Now if your stomach lining is already raw and inflamed, a concentrated shot on an empty stomach can still feel like too much for you. But that is the concentration doing it, not the amla. And that is exactly why I said have it after food.
And see the irony here. People think curd is cooling. It is not. Classically dadhi is ushna virya with amla vipaka, and it is abhishyandi, it blocks your channels. It is doing almost the opposite of what people think it is doing.
So, people are avoiding amla thinking it is heating them. And the same people are eating curd every single day thinking it is cooling them.
Both wrong.
About Triphala
Somebody is definitely going to ask this, so let me answer it here itself.
Do not take amla in the form of Triphala.
Actually, do not take Triphala internally at all. I do not advise it to any of my patients. Externally I use it, yes. Internally, no.
So Triphala is not even a question if you were wondering.
Who should be careful
Honestly, there are no real contraindications for amla. It is one of the safest things I give.
The one place where I will slow down is if you are having excessive bowel movements, loose motions, or if you have IBS going on continuously. Then an amla shot is going to be difficult for you.
That does not mean you cannot have amla. It means take it as a powder. One teaspoon mixed into your food. That form is much easier on your system.
Two more things, and these are important.
If you are on medication for diabetes, amla is bringing your fasting sugar down, and that is adding on top of what your medicine is already doing. That is a good thing. But your doctor needs to know you are taking it, so your numbers can be watched.
If you are on blood thinners, or if you have a surgery coming up, tell your doctor before you start.
I am not saying this to scare you. I am saying it because this is what I would tell you if you were sitting in front of me.
What I see in my practice
Patients who come to me with high cholesterol, high fasting sugar, high HbA1c, I see amla helping them. Consistently.
In my three month programmes, patients who come in with insulin resistance, with high cholesterol, with high HbA1c, I give them this amla shot as part of what they are doing every day.
And I have seen it help them. But I am not going to sit here and tell you that amla cured it. It did not. It is one part of the food that we give them. And the food is one part of the programme.
What is actually changing those numbers is the combination of everything they are doing in those three months. The food, the Agni, the routine, the sleep. The amla is in there doing its work. But it is not doing it alone.
And what makes amla special is that it is one of the very few things my patients can actually keep doing. For a long time. Without it becoming a burden for them.
Right now, amla is still our little Indian secret. Have it before the world gets to it.
How we work, if you want to know more
In our treatment programmes, when we are taking a patient along this journey to better health, we advise a lot of food-based medicines. A lot of correction with food, with digestion, with routines.
And this is the thing. When you correct a lot with food, your dependence on medicines becomes much lesser.
Please do this with your doctor though. Never reduce or stop a prescribed medicine on your own because you started eating better. That decision is made together with the person who prescribed it.
This is what we do in our treatment programmes. And we have been doing this for the last fifteen years now. That is why I believe so much in food.
So, take care of what you are putting inside your body. Do not go behind the trends. You already have your own old wisdom sitting right there.
If you want to know more about how food acts on the body, and to learn more about Ayurvedic food, you can take our Charaka Samhita course.
For enquiries about consultations, products, our three-month Agni Awakening Programme, or courses, WhatsApp us at +91 99011 26331 or email us at rekha@doctorrekhaayurveda.com. Our team will guide you.
Love & light,
Dr Rekha