Amla:
AN AMAZING
SUPERFRUIT!
by Dawn Thorpe Jarvis, M.S., R.D., L.D.N.
Garden of Life ® Senior Director of Nutrition
Science & Educational Content
mla is a small tree native to India that
is considered sacred due to its health
benefits. Amla trees produce plum-sized
yellow fruit commonly known as Indian
gooseberry whose health benefits are
attributed to its high vitamin C content.
In fact, 100 grams of fresh amla berries provide
10 to 30 times the vitamin C content of an orange!
Used for thousands of years, amla (Emblica officinalis) is one
of the oldest, most-revered and widely used plants in the Indian
traditional system of Ayurvedic medicine. In Sanskrit, amla
is called amalaki and is considered particularly beneficial
because it has a unique balance of sour, sweet, pungent, bitter
and astringent tastes, all in one fruit, and is said to balance
all three of the doshas (three energies of the body)—vata,
kapha and pitta.
Amla is primarily used as a rejuvenator for many of the body’s
organs and functions. It boosts the immune system, reduces
inflammation, acts as a body coolant, reduces fevers, supports
the liver in reducing cholesterol and flushes out toxins.
It nourishes and protects the skin, especially from harmful
UV rays, and also protects eyesight. Amla enhances food
absorption, balances stomach acid, fortifies the liver,
nourishes the brain and mental functioning, supports the
heart, strengthens the lungs, regulates elimination of free
radicals, and is considered good for anti-aging. It promotes
healthy hair, increases vitality and improves muscle tone.
No wonder it’s called a superfruit!
But let’s look more closely at amla’s effects on oxidative damage,
which can cause many serious health problems. Fortunately,
antioxidants help prevent and repair oxidative damage, and vitamin
C is a good antioxidant—which makes amla powerful protection
against a variety of conditions, including various types of cancer.
Even during sports and exercise, our bodies produce ROS (reactive
oxygen species) which need to be quenched by antioxidants before
they attack our cells.
Recent scientific testing has shown that amla also contains
a wide spectrum of vitamins and minerals, including calcium,
phosphorus, iron, carotene and vitamin B-complex combined
with an extremely broad spectrum of antioxidant polyphenols
including gallic acids, ellagic acid and quercetin—to name just
a few. Other beneficial phytochemical components in amla
include alkaloids, tannins and highly bioactive tannoids which
exhibit strong oxidative free radical scavenging activity. These
are believed to significantly increase the protective antioxidant
actions of vitamin C.