Shilajit also shows promise in fighting against certain types of cancer cells. One study found that shilajit helped force the destruction of cancerous cells in the liver. In an animal study conducted by the Physiology Research Center at the Kerman University of Medical Sciences in Iran on the effects of shilajit on risk factors following a traumatic brain injury, researchers discovered that it has positive effects on the three most indicative factors of death following traumatic brain injury: brain edema, blood-brain barrier permeability and intracranial pressure.

Surapaneni, D. K., Adapa, S. R. S. S., Preeti, K., Teja, G. R., Veeraragavan, M., & Krishnamurthy, S. (2012, August 30). Shilajit attenuates behavioral symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome by modulating the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and mitochondrial bioenergetics in rats [Abstract]. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 143(1), 91–99 Durg S, Veerapur VP, Thippeswamy BS, Ahamed SM. Antiepileptic and antipsychotic activities of standardized Śilājatu (Shilajit) in experimental animals. Anc Sci Life. 2015;35(2):110-7. doi:10.4103/0257-7941.171675 Shilajit contains fulvic acid and more than 84 minerals, so it offers numerous health benefits. It can function as an antioxidant to improve your body’s immunity and memory, an anti-inflammatory, an energy booster, and a diuretic to remove excess fluid from your body. Because of these benefits, shilajit is thought to help counteract many symptoms associated with higher altitudes. 6. Iron deficiency anemia Das, A., Datta, S., Rhea, B., Sinha, M., Veeraragavan, M., Gordillo, G., & Roy, S. (2016, July 1). The human skeletal muscle transcriptome in response to oral Shilajit supplementation. Journal of Medicinal Food, 19(7), 701–709

Authentic Shilajit® outperforms all conventionally made Shilajit and Mumie resins in quality and efficacy. As the marketers will tell you, shilajit comes from the Himalayas—specifically from the rich environment created through organic materials caught up in the Earth's tectonic shifts over time. "These decaying plants were gradually transformed into humus, a rich organic mass that is food for new plant life, and eventually, due to microbial action and the tremendous pressure from the weight of the mountains, the humus was transformed into a dense, mineral-rich substance—shilajit,” says Calvin Bond, representative for HANAH, a company that makes products, including the upcoming Shilajit+, using Ayurvedic ingredients.

One important part of purchasing it is to find reputable distributors. There are many companies selling various shilajit products, but many of them have been found to be very impure forms of the substance or cut with other, non-nutritional things. Again, do your research before beginning to take it. Risks and Side Effects Similarly, this medicinal “herb” reduces addiction to alcohol and diminishes the withdrawal experienced by alcoholics who stop drinking. How to Take Shilajit Stohs SJ. Safety and efficacy of shilajit (mumie, moomiyo). Phytother Res. 2014;28(4):475-9. doi:10.1002/ptr.5018 It’s not clear if shilajit is a purely biological or geological substance, as it does have a high presence of nutrients found in both categories. Some of the most often recognized nutrients within it are fulvic acid, humic acids and dibenzo alpha pyrones. Fascinatingly, shilajit has been found to be toxic to various of types of cancers, including lung, breast, colon, ovarian and liver cancer. Some researchers attribute its toxicity to these cancer to the presence and combination of heavy metals in the substance, making it a potential natural cancer treatment.Dibenzo-alpha pyrones and biphenylcarboxylates (brown): These are the unique health giving compounds in shilajit. They help with energy production in the cell via epigenetic signaling (on the cell membrane). These compounds are believed to work synergistically with hemp and balancing out the effects of cannabis.

Regarding pain, in a study involving mice, shilajit interacts positively with morphine, minimizing the buildup of tolerance to morphine and, therefore, reducing the amount of this medication that one in serious pain would need to introduce into his or her system for effective pain relief. 5. May Help Manage Diabetes However, much of the clinical research conducted on shilajit has been done on rats and any benefits that emerge in rat study often do not replicate in human studies. In short, more research is needed to prove the benefits of shilajit in people like me. Registered dietitian nutritionist and functional foods expert Christy Brissette gives me the helpful advice to avoid being “the guinea pig” when it comes to taking shilajit. She urges that people wait for evidence before taking unproven supplements. Ayurvedic medicine has long praised shilajit for its ability to reduce pain naturally, but research has been limited until the last few years. Because of its interaction with GABA levels in the brain, this herbomineral has a significant effect on orofacial pain (pain of the face, mouth or jaws), acting as a “sedating agent.” A 2015 study on mice found it to relieve and lessen chronic pain over the course of time, dependent on the size of the dose.

Joukar S, et al. (2014). Cardioprotective effectof mumie (shilajit) on experimentally induced myocardial injury [Abstract].DOI: