Amla Powder and Cancer: Myths and Facts

Indian gooseberry, also known as amla or Emblica officianlis, is a medicinal superfood native to India and Ssoutheast Asia. 

Used as a staple in Ayurvedic medicine both as an individual supplement and as part of mixtures like Ttriphala, amla is prescribed for an incredibly wide variety of ailments, ranging from heart disease and high blood pressure to inflammation to hair tonic.  

However, what separates amla from many folk remedies is an ever-growing body of evidence-based research that supports its incredible nutritional and medicinal benefits. 

One of these areas that is still being explored is amla’s potential to help fight cancer. In early in vitro tests (done on isolated cells), amla has shown promise both in preventing growth and invasion in some strains of cancerous cells.

It’s important to note here that amla as an anticancer agent is still being talked about in terms of possibility and promise. As of right now, there is no perfect treatment or prevention mechanism for cancer. 

However, in this article, we’ll explain amla’s anticancer properties in more depth. We’ll touch on amla’s role in anticancer research, how it might serve as a prevention agent, and also explore some of the overall health benefits of amla.

Table of Contents

What Science Says About Amla Powder for Cancer

Looking at the research, amla’s potential as a plant-based medicine is apparent, even in the language of the reports. One notable study referred to amla as a “wonder berry”, for its diverse health benefits, particularly those relating to amla’s anticancer properties. 

The current promise of this research surrounds amla’s demonstrated potential during in vitro studies done on ovarian cancer, breast cancer, liver cancer, cervical cancer, colorectal cancer, and lung cancer cells. 

In vitro, a small dose of amla was able to restrict or entirely reverse cancer cell

growth. 

Preventing cancer cell growth and cell invasion in vitro is not by itself notable. After all, many toxic chemicals can prevent cell growth, and are not viable medicines.

What was notable was amla’s ability to prevent cancer cell growth and cell invasion while leaving non-cancerous cells unaffected. 

Though still in the early days, and only tested on six strains of cancerous cells, this link between amla and cancer prevention presents an area of promise for future trials.

Mechanisms of Action: Why Amla May Be Helpful

Amla has three major areas of promise for cancer prevention.

First, as mentioned above, amla’s ability to restrict tumor cell growth while also leaving ‘normal’ cell growth unrestrained has promise for future medical applications. 

The second and third major areas surround reducing known risk factors that may lead to cancer. 

Amla is the most powerful pound-for-pound antioxidant on the planet, surpassing other common superfoods and medicinal plants like blueberries, goji, acai berries, turmeric — sometimes by an order of magnitude.

These antioxidants are crucial to your body’s ability to scavenge free radicals — unhealthy cells that cause oxidative stress. High levels of oxidative stress are a risk factor for cancer, so ensuring you have enough antioxidants (like from amla), can help reduce this risk.

This antioxidant activity, along with amla’s high value of Vitamin C, also helps improve your immunity.

Though no immune system can perfectly combat cancer, a weaker immune system reduces your body’s ability to fight cancer. Keeping your immune system strong helps ensure your body has the best chance of fighting carcinogens and cancer.

Other Health Benefits of Amla (And Why They Might Be Helpful In Preventing Cancer)

These three areas are just scratching the surface of amla’s medicinal properties. As a whole, amla supports your overall health in many ways, targeting many potential areas of cancer risk. 

Obesity is a proven cancer risk factor, and multiple investigations have found that amla helped stimulate weight loss. 

Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance also increase your risk for several forms of cancer, and multiple studies have shown that amla can lower your blood glucose as much as leading diabetes medication. 

High LDL cholesterol levels and high blood pressure are two cancer risk factors that also increase your risk for other conditions like heart disease, and amla excels here too. 

Amla’s ability to lower cholesterol has been widely repeated, reinforcing the berry’s potential as a natural shield against both cancer and heart disease.

Combined with its dense nutritional value, amla has far ranging health benefits that make the term “wonder berry” closer to fact than fiction. Explore them all in our comprehensive guide to amla’s benefits.

How to Try Amla Powder

So the research is clear: amla shows promise in some areas of direct cancer prevention, and has been proven to help reduce some common cancer risk factors. And at the very least, amla has the potential to significantly improve your overall health. 

So why hasn’t it become more popular? This is for two reasons. 

First, it’s hard to source organic, high-quality amla, even in India and Ssoutheast Asia.

Second, in its raw form amla has a bitter, extremely tart taste that can be off putting. 

We’ve solved both issues with Amla Green. We work with top producers to source berries for a  20x concentrated powder mixed with green tea or hibiscus tea. 

The result is a powerful, tasty, and versatile powder that includes all the benefits of amla and none of the negative taste. We’re thrilled to share it with more people, so we offer a risk-free trial for your first batch. 

If you don’t like it, we offer a money-back guarantee. That’s how confident we are in the power of amla.

Page Medically Reviewed and Edited by
Cyrus Khambatta, PhD

Cyrus Khambatta, PhD, is a cofounder of Mastering Diabetes and Amla Green is an internationally recognized nutrition and fitness coach who has been living with type 1 diabetes since 2002. Using an evidence-based approach to nutrition and fitness, he first reduced his own insulin usage by more than 40%, and has educated thousands of people with all forms of diabetes how to reverse insulin resistance using food as medicine. Cyrus earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 2003, then earned a PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry from the University of California at Berkeley in 2012. He is the co-host of the annual Mastering Diabetes Online Summit, a featured speaker at the Plant-Based Nutrition and Healthcare Conference (PBNHC), the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) Conference, Plant Stock, and has been featured on Forks Over Knives, NPR, PBS, KQED, Fast Company, and is the author of the upcoming book Mastering Diabetes.

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