Yu Gan Zi
StarPhyllanthus emblica L.
Traditionally used for
- Nose & throat
- Cough & breathing
- Colds & fever
- Digestion
- Energy & fatigue
Cautions & contraindications
- Bleeding disorders
☯ TCM Properties
Clears Heat and Cools the Blood; Strengthens the Spleen and Promotes Digestion; Moistens the Lungs and Stops Cough; Benefits the Throat
Traditional Chinese Uses
Yu Gan Zi (emblic fruit, Indian gooseberry, amla) is a cold, sour-sweet fruit herb used in Chinese medicine to clear Lung Heat, generate fluids, and stop coughing. It is used for Lung-Heat type cough with a dry throat, febrile illness with thirst, and throat irritation. As a food with high ascorbic acid content, it supports general health and has been valued across Asian healing traditions for its nourishing, heat-clearing, and fluid-generating properties.
Western Herbalism Properties
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Phyllanthus emblica L. (syn. Emblica officinalis; Phyllanthaceae), known as amla or Indian gooseberry, is a small to medium deciduous tree 8-18 m tall with smooth, greenish-grey, flaking bark and slender, drooping branchlets that resemble pinnate leaves. The true leaves are small, linear-oblong, light-green, and crowded along the secondary shoots. Inconspicuous, greenish-yellow unisexual flowers in axillary clusters give rise to nearly spherical, six-lobed, pale yellow-green to greenish translucent fruits 1.5-2.5 cm across, with a hard, segmented stone. Native to tropical and subtropical Asia and widely cultivated, the sour-bitter-astringent fruit (Yu Gan Zi) is exceptionally rich in vitamin C and tannins, occupying a central place in Ayurveda as a Rasayana rejuvenative and used in TCM to clear heat and generate fluids.
Active Constituents
Emblicanin A and emblicanin B
Hydrolysable tannins (ellagitannins)The two hydrolysable tannins named for the drug and the constituents most often credited with its antioxidant activity. On hydrolysis emblicanin A yields gallic acid, ellagic acid and glucose, and emblicanin B yields ellagic acid and glucose. Much of the fruit's measured reducing capacity comes from this pair rather than from ascorbic acid.
Punigluconin and pedunculagin
Hydrolysable tanninsPrincipal ellagitannins of the fruit alongside the emblicanins and geraniin. They contribute to the astringency of the fresh fruit and to the polyphenol content of standardised extracts.
Gallic acid
Phenolic acidConcentration: about 25 mg/g in an HPTLC assay of a bark extract; fruit content not fixed
A major free phenolic acid of the drug and a hydrolysis product of its tannins. An HPTLC assay of a P. emblica bark extract quantified it at about 25 mg per gram; fruit values differ with cultivar, ripeness and extraction, so this figure describes the bark preparation and should not be read across to the fruit drug.
Ellagic acid
Phenolic acid (dilactone)Concentration: about 13 mg/g in an HPTLC assay of a bark extract; fruit content not fixed
Released on hydrolysis of the ellagitannins and also present free. Measured at about 13 mg per gram in the same bark extract assay as gallic acid. It is a standard analytical marker for authenticating emblica preparations.
L-Ascorbic acid (vitamin C)
Water-soluble vitaminThe fruit genuinely is a rich vitamin C source and the antiplatelet interaction literature is partly framed around it. Published figures vary widely between reports, however, and the fruit's hydrolysable tannins interfere with the common titrimetric assays, so many of the very high values in circulation overstate the true ascorbate content. Treat any single quoted number with suspicion.
Corilagin, chebulagic acid and chebulinic acid
Hydrolysable tanninsEllagitannins shared with Terminalia chebula, which is why emblica and chebula appear together in the Ayurvedic Triphala and in Tibetan formulas. Their presence explains much of the overlap in the two drugs' antioxidant and antimicrobial profiles.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Clopidogrel
This is a directly measured human pharmacodynamic interaction, not an extrapolation. In a randomised open-label crossover study in ten patients with type 2 diabetes, P. emblica extract 500 mg twice daily, clopidogrel 75 mg daily and aspirin 75 mg daily were given alone and in combination over ten days. All treatments and all combinations produced a statistically significant fall in platelet aggregation from baseline, and the extract itself showed significant antiplatelet activity after both single and multiple dosing. The effect is corroborated independently: a 12-week supplementation study of a standardised emblica extract in overweight and class-1 obese adults found both ADP-induced and collagen-induced platelet aggregation significantly downregulated. The sample sizes are small and bleeding events were not the endpoint, so the direction of the effect is well supported but its magnitude is not.
Clinical note: Ask about amla, emblica and Triphala supplements in any patient on clopidogrel, since they are widely sold as food supplements and are rarely volunteered. Stop the herb at least one to two weeks before elective surgery, dental extraction or neuraxial anaesthesia, and reassess if unusual bruising, epistaxis or gum bleeding appears.
Aspirin and other antiplatelet or NSAID therapy
The same randomised crossover study measured the combination of P. emblica extract with aspirin 75 mg (ecosprin) and found a significant additive decrease in platelet aggregation over the ten-day course, with bleeding time and clotting time also monitored. The mechanisms are complementary rather than competing: aspirin irreversibly inhibits cyclo-oxygenase-1 while the extract suppresses both ADP-induced and collagen-induced aggregation.
Clinical note: Treat concurrent use as dual antiplatelet therapy for the purposes of bleeding-risk assessment. Be particularly careful in older patients, in those with peptic ulcer history and in anyone on a proton-pump-sparing NSAID regimen.
Warfarin, direct oral anticoagulants and heparins
No study has given emblica with an anticoagulant. The concern is a straightforward extension of the demonstrated human antiplatelet effect: platelet inhibition layered on anticoagulation raises bleeding risk even where the INR is unchanged, and an INR check will not detect it. Systematic review of the cardiovascular pharmacology of the species also reports anticoagulant activity alongside the antiplatelet, antihypertensive and hypolipidaemic effects, though that evidence is preclinical.
Clinical note: Do not rely on INR monitoring to pick this up. If the patient wants to continue, document the combination, counsel on bleeding signs and avoid concurrent NSAIDs.
Metformin, sulfonylureas and insulin
A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials found that amla supplementation significantly reduced fasting glucose along with LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, triglycerides and C-reactive protein, with larger effects at doses above 1 g per day over 3 to 12 weeks. The glucose effect is modest and the trials are small, but it is measured in humans rather than inferred.
Clinical note: Ask a patient starting emblica alongside glucose-lowering drugs to monitor capillary glucose for the first two to three weeks, particularly on a sulfonylurea or insulin where hypoglycaemia is possible.
Antihypertensive drugs
The evidence here is genuinely mixed and should not be overstated. A randomised double-blind placebo-controlled add-on trial in patients with essential hypertension already on antihypertensive therapy found that P. emblica extract produced no additional reduction in systolic or diastolic blood pressure, and no improvement in oxidant status, antioxidant capacity, lipid profile, HbA1c, arterial stiffness or hs-CRP. Other trials in metabolic syndrome and in overweight adults did show improvement in endothelial function and lipids. The reasonable reading is that emblica adds little on top of established antihypertensive therapy.
Clinical note: Do not present emblica to a hypertensive patient as a blood-pressure treatment and do not reduce antihypertensive doses in anticipation of an effect.
CYP-metabolised drugs (CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2D6, CYP2E1 and CYP3A4 substrates)
An aqueous fruit extract inhibited recombinant human CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2D6, CYP2E1 and CYP3A4 in vitro, but only at extract concentrations in the hundreds of micrograms per millilitre, which are far above anything a decoction or a 500 mg capsule would achieve at the enzyme. This work has not been followed by an in vivo probe-drug study and no clinical case of a CYP-mediated emblica interaction has been reported. The pharmacodynamic antiplatelet interaction above is the one that matters; this entry is recorded to keep the in vitro finding from being repeated as if it were clinical.
Clinical note: No dose adjustment or separation is indicated on current evidence. Reserve concern for narrow-therapeutic-index drugs where the patient is taking high-dose concentrated extract long-term.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction, or powder/pills | 3–9 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 【用法与用量】3～9g,多入丸散服。 【性味与归经】甘、酸、涩，凉。归肺、胃经。 — Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, quoted verbatim; route and cautions preserved. Replaces a cleared category-filler value. |
Evidence Tier
Strong evidence · 5 studiesRecorded studies by study design, strongest design at the top. This is a study-design tier only, not a GRADE rating: it does not weigh risk of bias, consistency or precision.
Systematic review / meta-analysis
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
Randomized controlled trial
3
3 verified · 0 unverified
Show 3 studies
- Study of pharmacodynamic interaction of Phyllanthus emblica extract with clopidogrel and ecosprin in patients with type II diabetes mellitus
- Evaluation of the effects of a standardized aqueous extract of Phyllanthus emblica fruits on endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress, systemic inflammation and lipid profile in subjects with metabolic syndrome: a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled clinical study
- Antihypertensive and pleiotropic effects of Phyllanthus emblica extract as an add-on therapy in patients with essential hypertension—A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial
Other clinical trial
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
Observational / case report
0
In vitro / animal
0
Other / unclassified
0
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
Study of pharmacodynamic interaction of Phyllanthus emblica extract with clopidogrel and ecosprin in patients with type II diabetes mellitus
A randomised open-label crossover study in ten patients with type 2 diabetes, comparing P. emblica extract 500 mg twice daily, clopidogrel 75 mg daily and aspirin 75 mg daily, alone and in combination, over single-dose and ten-day multiple-dose phases with platelet aggregation, bleeding time and clotting time as endpoints. All treatments and combinations significantly reduced platelet aggregation from baseline, and the extract showed significant antiplatelet activity on its own after both single and repeated dosing. All treatments were well tolerated. This is the source study for the antiplatelet interaction and its small sample size should be stated whenever it is cited.
Supplementation of a Standardized Extract from Phyllanthus emblica Improves Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Platelet Aggregation in Overweight/Class-1 Obese Adults
An open-label single-arm supplementation trial (NCT01858376) in overweight and class-1 obese adults given a standardised P. emblica extract 500 mg twice daily for 12 weeks, with two baseline visits and a two-week washout. Calculated LDL cholesterol, the total-to-HDL cholesterol ratio and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein all fell significantly against averaged baseline, and both ADP-induced and collagen-induced platelet aggregation were significantly downregulated. There was no placebo arm, so the lipid and inflammatory findings are weaker than the design label suggests; the value here is independent corroboration of the antiplatelet effect.
Evaluation of the effects of a standardized aqueous extract of Phyllanthus emblica fruits on endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress, systemic inflammation and lipid profile in subjects with metabolic syndrome: a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled clinical study
A randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial of a standardised aqueous emblica fruit extract in adults with metabolic syndrome, testing two dose levels. Endothelial function, markers of oxidative stress and systemic inflammation, and lipid profile all improved significantly against placebo at both doses, with the larger effect at 500 mg twice daily.
Antihypertensive and pleiotropic effects of Phyllanthus emblica extract as an add-on therapy in patients with essential hypertension—A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial
A negative trial, and an important one for keeping the herb's claims honest. Added to existing antihypertensive therapy in patients with essential hypertension, P. emblica extract produced no additional reduction in systolic or diastolic blood pressure and no improvement in oxidant status, antioxidant capacity, lipid profile, HbA1c, arterial stiffness parameters or hs-CRP.
The impact of Emblica Officinalis (Amla) on lipid profile, glucose, and C-reactive protein: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Pooling five randomised controlled trials of amla supplementation over 3 to 12 weeks, the meta-analysis found significant reductions in LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose and C-reactive protein, and a significant increase in HDL cholesterol, with larger effects at doses above 1 g per day. The evidence base is small and the constituent trials are heterogeneous in extract and population.
⚠ Safety & Contraindications
- Bleeding disorders
Contraindications
Its use is cautious in patients with deficiency-cold of the spleen and stomach.
Source: Xi S, Gong Y. Essentials of Chinese Materia Medica and Medical Formulas. Academic Press/Elsevier, 2017, p. 85.
Historical Texts
Nan Fang Cao Mu Zhuang
Jin dynastyXin Xiu Ben Cao (Tang Ben Cao)
Tang dynasty, 659 CEReferences
- Gagan Tiwana, Ian Edwin Cock, Matthew James Cheesman. Phyllanthus emblica: Phytochemistry, Antimicrobial Potential with Antibiotic Enhancement, and Toxicity Insights . Microorganisms (2025) [DOI]
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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