Chyawanprash — Ancient Elixir From India

Chyawanprash is a well known tonic from India.  It can be found in almost any indian grocery.  It looks like this:

It’s a combination of various herbs and spices (depending on source) but they all should have a base of honey and clarified butter, called ‘ghee’.  It has an odd sour and sweet taste.  Some formulations could have up to 80 ingredients, according to Wikipedia.

Everyone I speak to from India knows about this tonic and many say they were forced to take it when they were young.  One person told me it was to build muscle and make someone strong.

I’ve tried it and I have to admit I didn’t feel any immediate benefits from it.  For some reason, I just can’t commit to taking it regularly enough to say one way or the other.  I think it’s an interesting tonic because the principle ingredient is amla, which is supposed to be a powerful antioxidant.  I also noticed it contains tribulus, which is another herb touted to improve testosterone levels. 

I’m including Chyawanprash because of it’s popularity and to see if anyone has any direct experience with it to say ‘yay or nay’.  There’s a ton of marketing material on this one, so it’s difficult to sort through what’s real and what’s hype.