Benefits of Gooseberry
The health benefits of Indian Gooseberry, also known as Amla, can be partially attributed to its high vitamin C content. Amla enhances food absorption, balances stomach acid, fortifies the liver, nourishes the brain and mental functioning, and supports the heart. It also strengthens the lungs, regulates elimination of free radicals, enhances fertility, helps the urinary system, improves skin quality, and promotes healthier hair. This fruit acts as a body coolant, flushes out toxins, increases vitality, aids in vision care, improves the muscle tone and, acts as an antioxidant.
What is Gooseberry?
The Indian Gooseberry belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family. This fruit ripens in the autumn in wet, forest, hilly areas on the Indian subcontinent and is considered as a sacred tree in India. The fruit is very nourishing, but it tastes sour. Both, dried and fresh fruits can be consumed for their respective health benefits.
It provides remedies for a lot of diseases and so it is widely used in Ayurvedic treatments. Gooseberry is very rich in vitamin C and contains many minerals and vitamins like calcium, phosphorus, iron, carotene, and vitamin B complex. It is also a powerful antioxidant agent.
Many health problems are caused by oxidative damage (when body cells use oxygen, they produce by-products called free radicals that can cause damage). Antioxidant agents prevent and repair these damages. Vitamin C is a good antioxidant agent, which makes gooseberries a powerful tool against a variety of conditions, including various types of cancer.
Health Benefits of Gooseberry (Amla)
Being a multi-purpose food, gooseberry has a large number of benefits with its antioxidant, skin enhancing, hair enriching, and many more abilities for everyone. Let’s take a look at the major benefits in detail.
Eye Care
Drinking Gooseberry juice with honey is good for improving eyesight and studies have shown it to improve near-sightedness and cataracts while reducing intra-ocular tension. This is mainly due to its impressive carotene content, which has long been known for the powerful effect on vision-related conditions, including those that stem from free radical activity. Vitamin A and carotenes reduce macular degeneration, night blindness, and strengthen your vision before the age-related degeneration from free radicals can occur.
Controls Diabetes
Gooseberry contains chromium, which has a therapeutic value for diabetic patients. Indian gooseberry stimulates the isolated group of cells that secrete the hormone insulin, thereby reducing blood sugar in diabetic patients and keeping their body balanced and healthy. When blood sugar is reduced, glucose is also being used by the cells as functional energy, so the metabolism is stronger and you have more energy, without the plunges and spikes in blood sugar that are dangerous for diabetic patients. Chromium also enhances the effect of beta-blockers, which are used for heart health, by reducing the LDL (bad) cholesterol content in the body.
Treats Infection
Due to its antibacterial and astringent attributes, Indian gooseberries protect against infection and improve the body’s immune response. They are also a very good source of vitamin C, which is famous for its impressive antioxidant abilities. It increases the white blood cells in the body, which are the main line of defense for the immune system since these cells attack and eliminate foreign toxins and substances in the bloodstream throughout the body.
Anti-aging Properties
Amla prevents health-related hyperlipidemia by reducing the number of free radicals in the body through its antioxidant qualities. Free radicals are associated with signs of aging like wrinkles and age spots.
The fresh fruit of gooseberries contains more than 80% water, protein, minerals, carbohydrates, and fiber. It is also used as a remedy for fever, liver disorder, indigestion, anemia, urinary problems, respiratory problems, cerebral, gastric and cardiovascular illness. Gooseberry lowers cholesterol levels, increases red blood cell production, and strengthens teeth and nails.
In other words, consume Indian Gooseberry (Amla) as a fresh fruit, juice, or its in dried powder to see a big improvement in your health.
Aids in Digestion
Amla is very high in fiber, like most fruits. Fiber adds bulk to the stool and helps food move through the bowels and keeps the movements regular. This reduces the chances of constipation and fiber can also bulk up loose stools and reduce diarrhea. Fiber also stimulates the secretion of gastric and digestive juices, so food is digested efficiently, nutrients are absorbed in an optimal way, and you feel lighter and healthier.
Hair Care
Amla is used in many hair tonics because it enriches hair growth and hair pigmentation. It strengthens the roots of hair, maintains color, and improves luster. Eating fresh gooseberry or applying its paste on hair roots improves hair growth and color. Amla oil is very popular in India because it has been shown to reduce the chances of hair loss and baldness. This quality is due to the carotene content of Amla, as well as its iron content and general antioxidant capacity, which reduces hair loss by not allowing free radicals to damage hair follicles or impact the hormones that can cause premature hair loss.
Prevents Heart Diseases
As mentioned above, gooseberry strengthens the heart muscles, so the blood circulation is done throughout the body. By reducing excess cholesterol buildup, chromium in amla can reduce the chances of atherosclerosis or plaque buildup in the vessels and arteries. This can reduce the chances of stroke and heart attack. The iron content promotes the creation of new red blood cells, increasing circulation, and the oxygenation of organs and cells to maximize growth and regeneration of tissue while keeping the blood vessels and arteries clean.
