Maharishi Ayurveda’s herbal food supplement, Amrit, is a Rasayana of Rasayanas — the quintessential ayurvedic herbal compound for all-around longevity, health and vitality. This super antioxidant contains dozens of ayurvedic herbs and fruits, each of which is a potent Rasayana in itself. Add to that the meticulous traditional processing, and you have a truly powerful Rasayana.

What, exactly, is a Rasayana? The age-old traditional Sanskrit definition is “that which negates old age and disease.” In another translation, a Rasayana is described as “that which enters the essence.” One of ayurveda’s chief goals is maintaining health, and Rasayanas are considered the primary method for promoting vigor and health. In other words, a Rasayana is that which preserves health and longevity. It also supports the experience of transcendence, nourishing and balancing at the deep levels of the physiology, and supporting the delicate state of balance necessary for this experience.

Vaidyas, or ayurvedic experts, say that Amrit supports “bala,” or the vital strength that helps the physiology maintain health. The “Nectar of Immortality,” as Amrit has been called, feeds the body’s seven tissues: nutritional fluid, blood, muscle, fat, bone, bone marrow and reproductive fluid. Amrit is tri-doshic, balancing the three ayurvedic mind-body types: Vata, Pitta and Kapha.

Amrit is a two-part formula, for balanced, complete support: The Nectar herbal fruit concentrate (also available in tablet form) and Ambrosia herbal tablets work together to create overall health. Each contains different herbs so, for the full health benefits, it’s best to use both formulas.

The ancient ayurvedic texts bestow high praise on this traditional formulation. Charaka Samhita, the oldest existing Indian medical text, describes Amrit as, “enhancing memory and longevity; keeping body and mind limber; imparting radiance to the skin; benefiting quality of voice and effectiveness of speech; and increasing the fortitude of the senses and intellect.”

Amrit, the “Golden Cup of Longevity,” also promotes learning, retention and recall. Amrit helps with the aging process, supporting heart and cardiovascular as well as brain health by reducing free radical damage. For published research on Amrit, click here.

The Amrit production process hasn’t changed since ancient times, when only a select few knew the formula. Today, the formulation is still passed down by generations of ayurvedic physicians and prepared in accordance with the instructions in the traditional texts. It takes 250 meticulous steps to prepare — 22 pounds of raw ingredients are required to produce a single jar of the Amrit Nectar. Forty-four rare herbs are slow-cooked at low temperatures to protect vital nutrients which would be destroyed by heat. This specific attention to tradition and detail — using “antiquity processing” — ensures a genuine ayurvedic product of unique quality.

Fast-forward to the present day: the modern lifestyle had begun to seriously stress everyone out. Stress from the environment, stress from time pressures, emotional stress, mental stress, physical exhaustion — the well-being of people everywhere was tenuous. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the Transcendental Meditation^® program, gathered the most distinguished ayurvedic physicians and scholars of the time to see what could be done to alleviate people’s suffering. One of the primary fruits of these cooperative labors was a dynamic Rasayana to nurture body, mind and spirit in a very complete yet balanced way — Amrit. This elemental formulation represents a modern synthesis of great, ancient knowledge. Viewed in this light, the plethora of benefits Amrit offers is hardly surprising.

On a more scientific note, chemical analysis shows that Amrit contains an abundance of phytochemicals — protectors of health that have many beneficial properties, including strong antioxidant power — in high concentration. These include vitamins C and E, polyphenols, bioflavonoids, beta carotene, catechin, tannic acid, and resveratrol. Polyphenols are free-radical scavengers and chelators of damaging metal ions. They include both water-soluble and lipid-soluble antioxidants, and can regenerate vitamins C and E. Vitamin C helps promote immune function. Our body does not produce it, so it must be obtained from foods or food supplements. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that promotes youthfulness and helps combat lipid peroxidation in the brain. Resveratrol is a polyphenol with potent antioxidant properties. It helps protect LDL cholesterol from oxidation and supports platelet health.

Bioflavonoids are a group of polyphenols with the highest antioxidant power. These potent free-radical scavengers have been shown to help maintain healthy levels of both LDL and HDL cholesterol. They help combat LDL oxidation. “Bioflavonoids are present in their most concentrated form in herbs,” says Hari Sharma, M.D., author of Freedom from Disease. Research has established that complex mixtures of bioflavonoids have a synergistic effect that yields a benefit greater than the sum of the individual components.

Some of the substances in Amrit have not even been isolated and examined under a microscope. Yet, however tiny they are, they travel as vessels for nature’s own intelligence. Rare herbs and fruits come together in one very well-researched and potent product to provide you with health superpowers, courtesy of nature’s clever wisdom: a pure, antioxidant Rasayana. Meet Amrit.

I also took the DOSHA QUIZ and found out I am PITTA  and need this line for Pitta Dosha balance: