Chyawanprash Take your pick from these eight

Chyawanprash is a delicious nutritive jam that has been used in Ayurveda for thousands of years, claiming to offer a wide range of health benefits including boosting of immunity and rejuvenation of tissues in the body. In Sanskrit, the word refers to a specially prepared food. It is said that two ancient sages of Ayurveda concocted this particular formula to restore youth to the elderly sage Chyawan—thus the name ‘chyawanprash’. Be that as it may, it must be noted that chyawanprash falls in the category of Ayurvedic medicine and there is limited, if any, regulation for it. Also, one manufacturer may prepare their product one way, with a different formulation of herbs, and another one some other way. Some may add other ingredients such as gold or silver. For the eight brands of chyawanprash that we tested, we zeroed in on standard quality and safety parameters. In this context, we also referred to the Government of India Voluntary Certification Scheme for AYUSH Products

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Chyawanprash is a known source of vitamin C, which we tested. We found a wide difference between the brands containing the highest and the lowest amounts of vitamin C. Lead and total bacterial count were the other important parameters that we tested. The tests were carried out in an NABL-accredited laboratory. Chyawanprash is a cooked mixture of sugar, honey, desi ghee, gooseberry (amla) jam, sesame oil, berries, herbs and spices. It is a general health supplement and is among the best-known Ayurvedic medicines.