Gooseberry aka Amla is yet another superfood. I have heard about amla ki chutney and amla candy since I was a kid. To be honest, I didn’t understand how something turned into a chutney or a candy could actually be healthy.

Then I was exposed to fresh amlas all around me. As I did research, I saw that the small fruit packed one heckuva nutritious punch.

There are a plethora of amla uses and amla benefits. Amla is one of the most potent Vitamin C sources even more than most citrus fruits! Beyond this, its antioxidants levels are through the roof. This permits the body to fight against diseases and continually works to improve our immunity.

Additionally amla is known to improve digestion and strengthen our liver and kidneys cleansing the body of unnecessary toxins. If these benefits of eating amla don’t convince you, it also results in healthier skin, hair and nails.

I came to amla a little late and after having come across the amla uses, it served as a wonderful recovery herb after my nails had gotten quite brittle post numerous rounds of chemotherapy. I found that my nails were improving and becoming far more presentable than they had been for many years.

In turn, I also saw the thinning hair that I had developed over years of treatment also began to improve.

Whether you can handle the taste of amla directly is up to you but whether chutney, as a candy or as a juice (I now have it with bitter gourd each morning in a juice form) this is a must add to your daily health routine.

Your body, inside and out will thank you for it.

– Amit Vaidya

Amit Vaidya is the best-selling author of the memoir Holy Cancer and the upcoming Food Is Medicine cookbook series. He is the in-house health & wellness expert for Kapiva Ayurveda, advocating for the empowerment of all individuals to be in the driver’s seat of their own lives. He chronicles his life on Instagram under the handle @live4todayamit.