What Is Shilajit And Should You Take It?

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Shilajit is a natural compound that has been used in traditional Indian medicine for millennia, and is touted as having a range of different health benefits. But is there any science to back it up? Let’s take a look.

What is it?

Shilajit is a dark, tar-like substance that seeps from sedimentary rocks in the mountains. This intriguing origin gives it a rather mystical allure, as well as its more fanciful names like ‘mountain blood’ or ‘sweat of mountains’. Shilajit is most likely to form when certain plants decompose very slowly – over a period of centuries. It is usually consumed by dissolving it in water, and is sometimes sold as hard tablets or powder.

How does it work?

Shilajit’s proposed benefits come primarily from three compounds: fulvic acid, dibenzo-α-pyrones (DBPs), and DBP chromoproteins (DCPs). These are all powerful antioxidants, meaning they are able to react with and neutralise harmful byproducts of our metabolism – free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS), a subset of free radicals. This protects important components of our cells like proteins and genetic material from oxidative stress, the term for damage caused by free radicals. It is thought that by gradually degrading our cells’ ability to function optimally, oxidative stress contributes to the ageing process. In addition to those three main components, shilajit also contains a long list of beneficial minerals.

How much more fulvic acid, DBPs and DCPs does shilajit have compared to other sources? It’s hard to get a precise comparison because of the randomness of shilajit formation, and because studies measuring these compounds in other plants are scarce. Since these compounds are mainly formed through the decomposition of plant matter, their concentrations in shilajit are significantly higher than other sources, though they can still be found in other plants since they may be absorbed from the soil.

So now that we understand how shilajit might exert some beneficial effects, what do scientific studies have to say about those benefits?

What does the evidence say?

Unfortunately, there aren’t many studies concerning the benefits of shilajit consumption for humans, and those that do exist are of limited use for reasons we’ll get to shortly. Here is a summary of some of the key studies that have investigated the effects of shilajit in humans:

• A randomised, double-blind study including 45 participants found that 2g of shilajit per day significantly improved lipid profile compared to the placebo group after 45 days, but had no significant effect on blood pressure or body weight.
• A randomised, double-blind study including 63 physically active men found that taking 500mg/day shilajit for 8 weeks was associated with improved resistance to fatigue compared with placebo, but didn’t improve muscle strength before fatigue or body composition.
• A randomised, double-blind study including 75 healthy volunteers found that taking 500mg/day of shilajit for 90 days was associated with a significant increase in testosterone levels compared to placebo.
• A randomised, double-blind study including 60 postmenopausal women with osteopenia (below normal bone density) found that taking 500mg of shilajit improved bone density compared to placebo after 24 weeks.

It is often claimed that shilajit can improve cognitive performance or protect against neurodegenerative diseases. While there are some mechanistic reasons to anticipate this (such as the ability of fulvic acid to disassemble aggregates of tau protein, a driver of several neurodegenerative diseases), there is insufficient human evidence to conclude that this translates to real life benefits.

What about the other studies mentioned above? These were all randomised, double-blind and placebo controlled. That means participants were randomly assigned to receive either shilajit or a ‘fake’ dose of something that looks like shilajit, and that neither they nor the people giving it to them knew which one was which. This is good study design, but even so, we need more than one or two studies to draw firm conclusions about the benefits of shilajit in a given area. We also can’t ignore the fact that three out of four of those studies were partially or fully funded by an ayurvedic medicine company to test their specific shilajit formulation (PrimaVie), which means there’s a potential conflict of interest. 

On the other hand, said shilajit formulation is purified and standardised to contain a specific concentration of fulvic acid, DBPs and DCPs. If a study doesn’t use such a standardised formulation, any benefits shown will not necessarily apply to all commercially available shilajit unless it happens to have the same composition as that used in the study. So to summarise, there’s some promising early evidence for the benefits of shilajit, but built on somewhat shaky foundations.

Is it safe?

When properly processed, shilajit does not appear to have any severe side effects or drug interactions, though remember that this is based on quite limited research. However, raw unprocessed shilajit could contain heavy metals, mycotoxins (toxins produced by fungi) and other harmful contaminants, so caution should be exercised when choosing a provider.

The take home message

Shilajit is a natural compound containing powerful antioxidants that are hard to obtain anywhere else, but despite millennia of use, the human research showing actual health benefits is limited and potentially biased in many cases. There’s also a great deal of variation in the contents of shilajit, meaning its benefits and drawbacks may be inconsistent unless buying a standardised formulation. As with any dietary supplement, it is advisable to consult with a doctor for advice on whether it is safe for you to take.