Amla for Hair

Amla for hair is one of the most settled of all Ayurvedic hair traditions, for the small sour fruit the tradition calls Amalaki is counted among its foremost herbs both for the body as a whole and for the hair in particular. Alongside Bhringaraj, Amla is the fruit the classical hair oils and hair packs reach for most, valued as a cooling, nourishing Keshya substance, that is, one good for the hair, and as one of the great Rasayana fruits taken to renew the body over time.

Amla is the Indian gooseberry, a pale green, translucent, intensely sour fruit that the classical texts hold in the highest regard. The Bhavaprakasha Nighantu and the other herbals describe it as cooling, nourishing and rich in the sour taste, and Charaka names Amalaki among the very first of the Rasayana herbs, those taken to renew the tissues, steady the body and slow the wear of age. It is also one of the three fruits of Triphala, the classical trio, and it appears throughout the materia medica for the hair, the eyes and the digestion.

Why Ayurveda uses Amla for the hair

Ayurveda connects the health, colour and strength of the hair with the balance of the Doshas, and with Pitta above all: the hot, sharp quality the tradition reads as reaching the scalp in premature greying, in heat and irritation of the scalp, and in a head out of sorts. Amla, being cooling, is understood to settle that heat; being nourishing, to feed the tissue from which the hair grows; and being a Rasayana, to renew the body of which the hair is an outgrowth. This threefold virtue, cooling, nourishing and renewing, is why the tradition places it so high among the herbs for the hair.

The classical logic also runs from within outward. Because the hair is read as an outgrowth connected in a fine way with the tissues, Ayurveda values Amla taken internally for the hair as much as Amla applied to the scalp: a nourished, cooled body is held to show in the hair.

The classical physiology puts this more precisely. The hair, Kesha, is understood in the tradition as connected with the bone tissue, Asthi Dhatu, sharing in its state, and it is held to be nourished, like all the tissues, by the fine essence of well-digested food carried through the body. A body whose tissues are well nourished and whose Pitta is settled is therefore expected to show it in the strength and colour of the hair, and one that is depleted or overheated to show that too. This is why Amla, a Rasayana that nourishes the tissues and settles Pitta, is valued for the hair from within, and not only as something spread on the scalp. To take Amla for the hair is, in the classical view, to feed the ground from which the hair grows.

How it is used

As a medicated hair oil. The commonest way Amla reaches the hair is as an oil. The fruit or its juice is cooked into a base of sesame or coconut oil by sneha-paka, so the oil takes up its cooling, nourishing virtue, and this Amla oil is massaged into the scalp and left to act before washing. Amla appears in many classical and household hair oils, often in the company of Bhringaraj and other Keshya herbs.

As a paste or pack. The fruit ground to a paste, or the dried powder mixed with water or a suitable liquid, is applied to the scalp and hair as a hair pack and left before washing, a simple and old way of bringing the fruit’s virtue to the hair.

Taken internally. As a Rasayana, Amla is taken by mouth as a powder, churna, as fresh juice, or within preparations like Triphala and Chyawanprash, nourishing the body from within in a way the tradition holds to reach the hair.

For the scalp alone, a regular oiling or an occasional Amla pack are the classical ways, fitted to the person and the season.

Amla within the classical preparations

Amla’s place in the hair tradition is inseparable from its place in the wider materia medica. As one of the three fruits of Triphala, alongside Haritaki and Bibhitaki, it enters one of the most used of all classical formulas, a gentle balancing preparation taken for the digestion, the eyes and the tissues, and by that route, the tradition holds, for the hair. As the chief fruit of Chyawanprash, the great Rasayana jam, it is taken to renew the body and its strength over time. And in the hair oils themselves, Amla is a near-constant companion of Bhringaraj and Nili, lending its cooling, nourishing virtue to preparations such as the classical Neelibhringadi type of oil. To use Amla for the hair is, in the classical view, to draw on a herb the tradition already trusts for the body as a whole.

A simple Amla hair pack

The classical way of using the fruit directly on the scalp is straightforward. The dried powder is mixed with warm water, or sometimes with a little curd or a suitable liquid, to a smooth paste, and spread over the scalp and through the hair. It is left to act for a while, kept from drying out too hard, and then washed off with warm water. Some traditions steep the fruit or powder in oil overnight and use the strained oil. As with all such applications, the tradition fits the medium and the manner to the person, a plain water paste for a hot, oily scalp, an oil-based one where the scalp is dry, and it takes care, as with any Lepa, not to leave a drying paste on the skin too long.

The dravyaguna

In the language of dravyaguna, Amla is remarkable for carrying five of the six tastes, wanting only salt, with sour predominating; its potency is cooling, and its post-digestive effect sweet. Its karma is given as Rasayana, renewing, Keshya, good for the hair, Chakshushya, good for the eyes, and, unusually, Tridoshahara, settling all three Doshas, though it is prized above all for calming Pitta. It is this combination, cooling and nourishing and broadly balancing, that fits it so well to the hair and to the body as a whole.

Which constitution it suits

Amla is unusual in settling all three Doshas, which makes it broadly suitable across constitutions for the hair and scalp. It is especially valued, though, for calming Pitta, and so for the hot scalp, the premature greying and the heat the tradition reads as Pitta reaching the head. Being nourishing, it also supports the hair where the dryness of Vata is at work, and its cooling, unctuous nature feeds the tissue. It is generally well tolerated as an external oil or pack across constitutions.

This breadth is one of the things that sets Amla apart among the hair herbs. A cooling herb that would suit only a Pitta scalp is of limited use across a household, but a herb that settles all three Doshas while nourishing the tissue can be reached for widely, adjusted only in the medium and the manner of use. It is partly for this reason that Amla appears so consistently through the classical hair oils and packs, and through the great Rasayana preparations taken for the body as a whole, rather than being reserved for one constitution alone.

In the tradition of hair care

Amla rarely stands alone. The classical hair oils and packs set it beside Bhringaraj, the king of hair, and other Keshya herbs, and the tradition surrounds the oiling with the wider habits it recommends: a regular oiling and gentle massage of the scalp, a cooling, Pitta-settling diet where heat is at work, and attention to the general balance of the Doshas, since the hair is treated as an outgrowth of the body’s own health. Amla is the nourishing, cooling heart of much of this care, valued as much for what it does within as for what it does on the scalp.

Precautions

As an external hair oil or pack, Amla is gentle and long used, and suits most scalps; patch testing a new preparation on a small area is a sensible precaution. Taken internally it is a well-tolerated Rasayana fruit, though its pronounced sourness and cooling nature are approached with a little care in those prone to acidity or to feeling cold, and internal use is best guided by a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner where a health condition is being managed, in pregnancy, or alongside medication. Hair loss and scalp complaints can have causes that deserve medical assessment, and Ayurvedic hair care sits alongside, not in place of, that.

This article describes the classical Ayurvedic understanding of Amla for the hair for education and is not medical advice; consult a qualified doctor or a registered Ayurvedic practitioner before taking Amla internally where you are pregnant, taking medication or managing a health condition.