The Best Food For High Cholesterol
Are the apparently amazing benefits of amla—dried indian gooseberries—too good to be true?
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So excited to get back to this after all these years. Here’s the original series, which gives tips on how to find the stuff:
• Amla Versus Cancer Cell Growth ( )
• Amla Versus Cancer Cell Invasion ( )
• Amla Versus Diabetes ( )
What else is super-duper antioxidant packed? See my videos Antioxidant Power of Plant Foods vs. Animal Foods ( ) and Antioxidant Content of 3,139 Foods ( ).
Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion in my next video Amla vs. Drugs for Cholesterol, Inflammation, and Blood-Thinning ( ).
No matter how well it works, though, one can essentially eliminate risk of heart disease with a healthy enough diet. See my overview video How Not to Die from Heart Disease ( ). But if after doing everything right your cholesterol is still too high, amla may help.
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-Michael Greger, MD FACLM
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Could you do a video on safe clove consumption? how much can you eat before the Eugenol becomes an issue? I’m considering adding ground cloves with my cinnamon on my morning oats.
sdushdiu Do you know approximately how much? My main concern is that both cinnamon and cloves can be liver toxic in high consumption and I already use cinnamon quite a bit.
Yank the roots I think one or two cloves would be ok? But that’s a guess, I’d like to know too… bc I was using clove oil for a tooth issue in my dog, and yes, it caused liver problems…. elevated liver hormones. I do love the taste, and grind 2 cloves and cardamon with chia seed, to add to my coffee in the morning.
Bang on! In India, Ayurveda also uses this for bone fractures as it helps bone resorption. It is one of the three magic ingredients in the mixture “Triphala” which is a general prophylactic. Please do some research on “Triphala” as well.
I’m guessing that you read that somewhere…
Lead often creeps in via production — companies don’t necessarily use the safest means. Many people in India collate and make their own Triphala, which is safe.
Ayurveda is imperfect, however, as it recommends adult human beings consume the breast milk of ANOTHER mammal, correct Faezal?
@*The World Teacher – Jagadguru Svāmī Vegānanda* that was the only cruelty free way of getting vitamin B12 and casein polypeptides, as well as supplemental nutrition for women of childbearing age. it may not be necessary in today’s world . try living in 800 BC and engaging in agricultural labor without draft animals or fertilizing fields without manure.
@Ramesh Raghothama, how is LITERALLY stealing the milk from a cow “cruelty-free”? :/
Vitamin B12 is a bacteria found in soil and water, and does NOT need to come from an animal.
So lucky to have found whole frozen Amla at an Indian market! And its so cheap!! Now I add a whole frozen Amla to my smoothies every time! Thanks for letting us know about these studies Dr. Greger!
I’d love you to do more on ayurvedic herbs! Very interesting!
DCD yes, I take boswellia for osteoarthritis and it’s worked wonders.
Ashwagandha for thyroid improvement! Would love to hear Dr. Gregor’s comments on this ayurvedic herb
@Aiesha does ashwagandha work for hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism? I have the latter but i dont want the horrific side effects treating it with drugs like people I know experience.
Did the people of India traditionally eat Amla as normal part of their diet or did they use it primarily as a medicine?
After learning about the benefits of Amla from you, Dr. Greger, I’ve recently been stirring a half teaspoon of the powder into my tea every morning. I’ve also been applying Amla oil to my eyebrows and hairline for regrowth hopes! I prefer to use it to Minoxidil. Anyway, THANKS tons for the education!
Frozen amla is sold in India stores. Can also buy organic amla powder or organic triphala powder in bulk from the internet. The main problem with india food and china food is both countries have lots of pollution in their soil so probably safer to get your unrefined foods from the local farmers markets.
My grandma has been feeding us with whole amla in fruit juice since I was a kid. Perks of being born in India.
Cornflake boxes are also said to be nutritious……
dear and sensible grandma!…..
That’s pretty cool
does it make up for all the ghee? 🙂
how do you guys ingest it? just by itself?
In India amla is eaten in multiple ways. It can be eaten as fresh fruit but it is EXTREMELY sour. So the various methods are to make it into a sweet drink/smoothie with lots of sugar, pickle with lots of sugar. The best I suppose would be dried/powdered formats which is what ayurveda uses. It is wonderful as after meal mouth cleanser too…makes mouth sweet after eating such sour powder
I ate amla while I was a kid in Romania at my grandparents, had no idea about how good they really are for us, thank you for the video!
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@Vũ Nguyễn Tháij
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Can you clarify if “Phyllanthus emblica”, “Embilica officinalis”, “Phyllanthus amarus” are different plants? I see all of them described as “Indian gooseberry”.
Also, where do you get it for $.05 per teaspoon? IT is fairly expensive, and not that easy to find except online.
wakbot he repeatedly says a “half teaspoon a day”. Half of a teaspoon is about five cents a day. I bought some recently and that’s almost exactly what it’s costing me. If you bought it direct from a distributor you could likely get it for considerably less. There are 96 teaspoons in 16 ounces. I bought 5 lbs for $46. That included delivery. Do the math.
Because of this fine doctor, I now get a tablespoon every morning in a smoothie. My arthritic dog also gets a sprinkle on her dog food – she actually licks the bowl too. She has gained better mobility.
Ba
Just for information : Amla is described as “Dhatri Phal” in our ayurvedic texts. Literally means “Mother”.
P. L
Thank you Dr. Greger for all your information and hard work.
I wish the studies would have compared gooseberries with Alaskan wild blueberries and black currants. I take both of the latter added to my morning oatmeal. I know for a fact eating the blueberries lent to my vision improving by 2 diopters in each eye after the first year of living in Alaska and harvesting the wild blueberries, using them throughout the year in many things.
I’m vegan but still had an ldl of 122. Four weeks of amla, and it’s down to 104. Thanks Dr Greger!
How much and how often did you consume the powder?
My husband’s is 395 and he is not even fat. He is 5’11 165 pounds.
There is purple color fruit called jaman in India/Pakistan
, it lowers sugar drastically , please can make video on jaman.
My total cholesterol was 271 and LDL was 188. After having 1 amla a day for 2 months (and reducing meat intake) my total cholesterol went down to 164. And LDL 74.
Dr Avraham Rozenzweig hahaha
Don’t tell me you did not take statins , you liar.
My LDL direct is 72, VLDL 8 and HDL direct is 70 , but im still concerned about total cholesterol @170 well above 150 , so maybe im going to try amla and red yeast rice. Also im hearing of another Indian ‘fruit’ known as hurda/haritaki which is usually coadministered with Amla.
Nữ
It’s called Triphala
Ótimo trabalho, 👍👍👍