How to Take Amla for Better Health

Amla fruit, also known as Indian gooseberry or amalaki, is a powerful and rejuvenating superfood.

It is extremely high in antioxidants and other beneficial compounds for disease prevention, more energy and better health.

This page will look at how to take amla, how much to have, the best times to take it and the ideal dosage.

How to Eat Fresh Amla Fruit and What Does It Taste Like?

Fresh amla fruit has a very interesting flavor. I’d already been using powdered amla for a while when I found some fresh fruit in an Indian grocery store and bought a bag.

Cutting open the first amla berry the taste is quite sour and tart and my initial thought was that I might struggle to eat them all. I’d read though about a couple of tricks to try when eating amla.

The first was to taste a little salt before you bite into them. I tried this with a little Himalayan pink salt and it definitely improves the flavor. There was much more depth, less sourness and more of a combination of flavors, but hard to describe.

The next was to have a sip of water with it. Even stranger. The taste of the amla was suddenly sharply sweet.

I had a few more of these of these Indian gooseberries for the novelty value, but ended up using the rest of them, one a day, in a delicious smoothie recipe I’ll share ahead.

If you do live near an Indian grocer who can get amla fresh, and want to try some unusual flavors, then this would be the best way to have them. Just a single fruit a day can have significant benefits.

If not then powdered amla fruit, like this excellent organic one I use is easy to use and full to bursting with antioxidants. It’s a mainstay of my daily health regime.

Amla Uses — 6 Different Ways to Take Amalaki

1. Fresh Amla Fruit

Fresh is great if you can get it, even occasionally. Some specialty grocers online have weekly deliveries from India and will send out orders the same day.

If you live near an Indian market they may also sell them. Look for firm fruit as the older ones can shrivel a little.

Not all of us have access to fresh amalaki fruit though, so let’s look at some other options to get the benefits of amla into your diet.

2. Amla Juice

Amla juice is popular in India, but unfortunately most of the commercial products I’ve seen have added sugar or, even worse, high fructose corn syrup.

It’s fairly pointless to pay for a health food that is full of sugar in my opinion. The preservative sodium benzoate is also often used, which is best avoided where possible.

Local Indian grocers may stock different versions, but the only one I’ve found online to recommend is this new USDA certified organic juice at Amazon. It’s made from fresh berries and is the only brand of amla juice I’ve seen that isn’t loaded with sugar or corn syrup.

3. Amla Candy

Obviously if supermarket amla juice is full of sugar then amla candy will be even worse. In fact, it’s even more likely to be made with fructose syrup, an ingredient strongly linked to many diseases.

It’s a common trick of food manufacturers to use a small amount of something healthy, while simultaneously adding lots of very unhealthy ingredients like sugar syrup. Amla candy looks to me to be a classic case of this kind of deceptive marketing.

If you can’t get the fresh fruit, I’d strongly suggest using the powdered version or these high potency organic capsules. Amla candy is unlikely to do anything positive for your health.

4. Amla Chutney

Amla chutney is an interesting way to get the benefits of amla into your diet. The chutney can add a spicy kick to steamed vegetables and rice and should be available from specialist Indian stores.

Once again though, if your health is more important than the taste, try to avoid brands with excessive sugar, salt, preservatives or flavor enhancers.

If you do have access to fresh Indian gooseberries, here’s a simple recipe for amla chutney:

Take 300 grams of amla fruit, 200 grams of cilantro, 50 grams of green chilies, a small piece of ginger and sea salt to taste. Blend them all up well in a good food processor. Store in a jar and cover with olive oil or healthier avocado oil to prevent oxidation. It should keep for at least a month in the fridge.

5. Amla C Capsules

The simplest way of all to use Indian gooseberries is in the very popular amla capsules.

While I personally prefer the powder as I use it so often, these high strength organic capsules are good value and easy to take to work or with you when travelling for extra antioxidant protection.

Amla capsule suggested dosage is to have them both morning and evening at the recommended amount on the bottle.

They are best taken just before a meal to help improve digestion and are a convenient way to get the extensive nutritional properties of Indian Gooseberry wherever you are.

6. Powdered Amla

Whole fruit amla powder, like this organic version I use, is in my opinion the best and most inexpensive option for getting the many benefits of Indian gooseberries into your daily diet.

Personally, I find I really feel it first thing in the morning and mostly use it then in smoothie recipes or just mixed into a glass of water with lemon juice. I regularly use it in the afternoon before gym as well.

Should you feel a bit run down, or a cold or flu coming on, it’s beneficial to take Indian gooseberry powder with every main meal of the day to boost your immunity.

Indian Gooseberry Powder Dosage

The recommended dosage for amla powder is 1 teaspoon, or around 4 grams. Take it twice daily, morning and afternoon or evening for best results.

While there are no commonly reported side effects of amla, as with any new health supplement it’s best to begin slowly and see how your body tolerates it.

You could start with just a quarter of a teaspoon, approximately 1 gram, building up to half a teaspoon or 2 grams over the course of week.

If this is well tolerated, the following week you could increase your amla dosage to a maintenance dose of 4 grams.

Some Ayurvedic practitioners recommend taking a teaspoon of powdered amla after each meal to help treat digestive problems and acidity in the body.

This would be a high temporary dosage though and it would be best to seek the advice of someone knowledgeable in Ayurveda if you intend to use it in these larger amounts for long periods.

Different Ways to Take Amla Powder

Some sites recommend taking amla powder with a teaspoon of sugar or honey. This seems like unnecessary sugars when so many of us are already overloaded with the stuff.

While the powder isn’t sweet, there’s no reason why it couldn’t be mixed up in a small glass of water, perhaps with some fresh lemon juice for cleansing the digestive system first thing.

In the past, I’ve sprinkled it on soft fruit like bananas and papaya, mashed it up with a fork and barely tasted it when I eat it.

It can also be mixed in with a small amount of good quality fruit juice (but be aware that large glasses of commercial juice can really spike your blood sugar). Generally it’s much better to make your own.

These days, the best way to have amla that I’ve found is to mix it into a superfood smoothie, like this recipe for better skin. Just add a teaspoon to your blender for a potent antioxidant boost you can feel.

I’d be interested to hear of any other ways you know of to use amla. While it is still relatively unknown in the United States, I don’t think a superfood this good will stay unknown for much longer.

You can see my latest recommendations for the best amla brands for organic powders, capsules, amalaki juice, whole fruit and amla hair oil here.

Amla powder is also a key ingredient the most famous Ayurvedic preparations — Triphala. I’ll be covering this amazing superfood in detail ahead.