Amla

The fruit is rich in hydrolysable tannins and gallic acid esters, including gallic acid, ellagic acid, corilagin, geraniin, chebulagic acid and beta-glucogallin, with flavonoids such as quercetin and kaempferol. The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India records ascorbic acid and tannins for the fresh pulp and ascorbic acid and gallotannins for the dried pericarp. Which constituents carry the antioxidant activity is disputed: it was attributed to emblicanin A and B, but later analysis found no evidence those compounds are present and assigned it to gallic acid esters. Ascorbic acid content is contested between assay methods.

Amalaki is used in Ayurveda as a rasayana, a rejuvenative tonic, and the fruit is one of the three in the classical Triphala formula and the base of Chyawanprash. Health Canada's monograph records the same rasayana tradition beside use as a digestive tonic, a mild laxative, an eye tonic, and for the heartburn the classical texts call Amlapitta. The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia gives the fresh fruit pulp and the dried pericarp separate monographs, so a source that says amalaki may mean either. In Hindu practice the tree itself is held sacred; Chinese and Unani use did not reach approved-source tier.

Clinical trials have used standardised fruit extracts in capsule or tablet form, including aqueous extracts standardised to their low molecular weight hydrolysable tannins. Products are not interchangeable, because each named extract is standardised to a different marker. Traditional preparation is separate from that. The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India gives the fresh fruit pulp and the dried pericarp their own monographs, and Health Canada's monograph covers the dried fruit, so approved amounts do exist for dried fruit powder and for the fresh fruit and its juice even though the trial evidence sits with the extracts.

For the dried fruit, Health Canada's monograph gives 3 to 6 grams per day for the traditional uses and directs that 6 grams per day not be exceeded for the antioxidant use. The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India gives 3 to 6 grams of the dried drug as a powder, and for the fresh drug 10 to 20 grams, or 5 to 10 ml of fresh juice. Most trials used a standardised fruit extract at 500 mg twice daily, usually for 12 weeks. Other regimens tested include 250 mg twice daily, 500 mg once daily for 42 days, and two 500 mg tablets twice daily for 4 weeks in reflux. Extract amounts do not transfer to fresh fruit, juice or dried powder.

The one trial that specified timing gave doses after meals. Health Canada's monograph also directs that it be taken a few hours before or after other medicines and health products.

The app checks these against your health profile. Severity is the researcher's rating of the interaction.

• Antiplatelets — high
• Anticoagulants (blood thinners) — high
• Not recommended with: Bleeding disorder, Upcoming surgery, Currently having cancer treatment
• Age: not for anyone under 18

Named amla extracts are standardised to different markers, so a result from one product does not carry over to another. Much of the clinical literature is published under the older name Emblica officinalis, which is the same plant. Amla is also a component of Triphala and of Chyawanprash, and a trial of either blend tests the blend rather than the fruit on its own. Several unrelated plants share the gooseberry name: Phyllanthus niruri, sold as bhumi amalaki, Phyllanthus acidus, and the European gooseberry Ribes uva-crispa, which sits in a different plant family altogether.