El shilajit es una resina similar al alquitrán que rezuma de la roca del Himalaya. La medicina ayurvédica lo ha usado durante siglos como rasayana, un tónico rejuvenecedor, bajo el nombre de shilajatu. Ahora se vende para la testosterona, la energía y la fertilidad. Un ensayo controlado con placebo halló que la testosterona subió en hombres de mediana edad. Un pequeño estudio no controlado de 35 hombres halló mayores recuentos de espermatozoides.
El trabajo en animales lo vincula con menos fatiga a través de un efecto sobre las mitocondrias, las estructuras que producen energía dentro de las células. Como el shilajit se extrae de la roca, la pureza es la cuestión práctica. El análisis de productos comerciales ha hallado reiteradamente plomo, arsénico y mercurio, a veces por encima de los límites permitidos. El Ayurveda clásico purificaba primero la resina cruda mediante un proceso llamado Shodhana, y hoy solo es apropiado tomar un producto purificado y verificado por terceros.
Findings & Outcomes
A 2024 systematic review of testosterone boosters concluded that most marketed products do nothing. It counted purified shilajit among the few it judged possibly effective for men with low testosterone.
Shilajit is a blackish-brown, tar-like resin that seeps from cracks in Himalayan rock, used for centuries in Ayurvedic medicine as a rasayana. The single trial behind that testosterone verdict followed middle-aged men for 90 days, the best human data available.
People take shilajit today mostly for testosterone, energy, and fertility, the three areas the thin human evidence covers. The resin forms slowly, as decomposed plant and microbial matter is compressed inside high-mountain stone.
What's Inside the Resin
The same three families of compounds behind shilajit's proposed effects also carry its main risk. Amino acids and other trace constituents make up the remainder.
Anatomy of the Practice
1Fulvic acid and humic substances
More than 80% of shilajit by weight is humic substances, and fulvic acid is the fraction most studied. Fulvic acid is a small, water-soluble antioxidant molecule that binds minerals and helps move them across cell membranes. It is the compound behind most of the proposed effects, from mineral transport to the laboratory work on brain-protein aggregation.
2Minerals and trace elements
About a fifth of shilajit is minerals, dominated by calcium, potassium, and magnesium, plus trace elements. The same material that carries useful minerals can also carry lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium. How much depends on the source rock and processing.
3Dibenzo-alpha-pyrones
Shilajit contains a characteristic class of compounds called dibenzo-alpha-pyrones, often standardized for in supplement extracts. In animal studies, these and the fulvic acids act on mitochondria. Researchers propose this as the mechanism behind the anti-fatigue effect seen in rats.
What the Research Found
The strongest finding, on testosterone, rests on that single trial. Pandit and colleagues, in 2016, randomized healthy men aged 45 to 55 to 250 mg of purified shilajit twice a day, or placebo, for 90 days. Total testosterone, free testosterone, and DHEAS rose in the treated group. The trial was small and industry-linked, reported no absolute hormone values, and enrolled only men.
The next-strongest evidence is for fertility, and it rests on one small uncontrolled study. Biswas and colleagues, in 2010, gave 35 men with low sperm counts 100 mg of processed shilajit twice a day for 90 days. Of the 28 who finished, sperm count, motility, and testosterone rose, and oxidative stress in semen fell. There was no placebo group, so the result stays preliminary. Animal work backs a profertility effect, including protection against a toxic-metal challenge in male mice.
Energy has been tested mainly in animals. In one rat model of chronic fatigue, a standardized shilajit extract reduced fatigue-like behavior. No controlled human trial has shown the same, so the energy claim is still early.
Across the human trials, the reported effects are modest, measured over about three months.
How It Works
The proposed mechanism centers on two components: fulvic acid and the dibenzo-alpha-pyrones. Both act as antioxidants and appear to support mitochondria. In the rat fatigue model, a standardized extract protected mitochondrial enzyme activity and steadied the stress-hormone axis. The researchers proposed that as how it reduced fatigue.
The 2016 trial that measured testosterone did not identify how it rose. Testosterone climbed while LH and FSH, the pituitary signals that normally drive it, stayed in normal range.
A separate line of laboratory research looks at the brain. In test tubes, fulvic acid interferes with the clumping of tau, one of the proteins tied to Alzheimer's disease. That work is in cell and animal models; it has not been shown in humans.
How Strong the Evidence Is
Three limits shape how much weight the human evidence carries:
- The human studies are few, and most are small.
- Several test one proprietary purified extract.
- Some are connected to the company that makes that extract.
The Research & Studies
Everything here is based on the research we have collected and checked, sorted into groups and ordered with the strongest evidence first. Click any claim to open the studies behind it.
Progress Markers
Elevó la testosterona en hombres de 45 a 55 años en un ensayo de 90 días
En un ensayo de tres meses, hombres de mediana edad sanos que tomaron un extracto purificado de shilajit tuvieron una testosterona más alta que los hombres con placebo, y una revisión posterior lo incluyó entre los pocos suplementos que podrían aumentar ligeramente la testosterona en hombres.
Pandit 2016 asignó al azar a hombres sanos de 45 a 55 años a shilajit purificado 250 mg dos veces al día o placebo durante 90 días, e informó aumentos significativos de la testosterona total, la testosterona libre y la DHEAS (P<0.05), con las gonadotropinas LH y FSH mantenidas. El resumen no ofrece valores hormonales absolutos, así que la magnitud del cambio en términos cotidianos no puede leerse a partir de él, y es un único estudio pequeño de un grupo de investigación ayurvédica que usó un único extracto purificado patentado. Morgado 2024 revisó sistemáticamente 52 estudios de 27 supuestos potenciadores de testosterona y encontró que la mayoría no elevaba la testosterona total; el extracto purificado de shilajit fue uno de los pocos considerados posiblemente eficaces en hombres con hipogonadismo de aparición tardía.
Who this may not transfer to:Measured only in men, and the outcome is male androgen levels, so it says nothing about effects in women, in whom testosterone physiology is different.
The studies · 2
Pandit 2016, Andrologia · Andrologia
Morgado 2024, Int J Impot Res · Int J Impot Res
Fertility
Elevó el recuento total de espermatozoides un 61.4 % en hombres con recuentos bajos
En un pequeño estudio de hombres con recuentos bajos de espermatozoides, tres meses de shilajit procesado elevaron el recuento de espermatozoides y mejoraron la motilidad, y redujeron un marcador de estrés oxidativo en el semen.
Biswas 2010 inscribió a 35 hombres oligospérmicos (recuento basal inferior a 20 millones/ml) con shilajit procesado 100 mg dos veces al día durante 90 días; los 28 que terminaron mostraron ganancias significativas en espermia (+37.6 %), recuento total de espermatozoides (+61.4 %), motilidad (+12.4 % a +17.4 %) y formas normales (+18.9 %), con la testosterona sérica subiendo un 23.5 % y la FSH subiendo un 9.4 % (ambas significativas), y el malondialdehído en semen bajando un 18.7 %. Los perfiles hepático y renal sin cambios indicaron que la dosis se toleró bien. No hubo brazo placebo, así que parte de la ganancia a lo largo de los 90 días podría deberse a la expectativa y a la variación natural, y la expectativa es en sí misma un factor documentado que influye en la respuesta del cuerpo.
Who this may not transfer to:Studied only in men with low sperm counts, so it does not speak to female fertility or to men whose counts are already normal.
The study · 1
Biswas 2010, Andrologia · Andrologia
Aumentó la producción de espermatozoides en estudios con roedores
En estudios con roedores, el shilajit aumentó la producción de espermatozoides y protegió la fertilidad frente a un desafío con metales tóxicos.
Park 2006 informó de que el shilajit administrado de forma crónica tuvo efectos tanto espermatogénicos como ovogénicos en ratas, actuando sobre el tejido reproductivo masculino y femenino. Mishra 2018 encontró que el shilajit redujo la infertilidad inducida por cadmio en ratones machos. En conjunto, estos hallazgos aportan respaldo animal al uso profertilidad tradicional, pero los hallazgos reproductivos en animales no establecen un efecto en personas.
The studies · 2
Park 2006, J Ethnopharmacol · J Ethnopharmacol
Mishra 2018, Andrologia · Andrologia
Energy And Fatigue
Redujo el comportamiento similar a la fatiga en ratas crónicamente estresadas
En ratas con fatiga crónica inducida, el shilajit redujo el comportamiento similar a la fatiga y la ansiedad, y estabilizó su respuesta hormonal al estrés.
Surapaneni 2012 indujo un comportamiento similar a la fatiga crónica en ratas mediante 21 días de natación forzada y las pretrató con shilajit a 25, 50 o 100 mg/kg. El shilajit revirtió el aumento de inmovilidad y la disminución de la escalada, redujo la ansiedad en el laberinto elevado en cruz, y normalizó la corticosterona plasmática y el peso suprarrenal, lo que los autores interpretaron como una modulación del eje hipotálamo-hipófiso-suprarrenal. El extracto se estandarizó al 56.75 % de ácidos fúlvicos, 20.45 % de cromoproteínas de dibenzo-alfa-pirona y 0.43 % de dibenzo-alfa-pironas.
The study · 1
Surapaneni 2012, J Ethnopharmacol · J Ethnopharmacol
Counts once: this finding and 1 other here come from the same source, so they are one body of evidence, not separate confirmations.
How it works
Protegió las enzimas mitocondriales en ratas estresadas, un mecanismo propuesto
En ratas, el shilajit ayudó a proteger las mitocondrias, las pequeñas estructuras dentro de las células que producen energía, del daño relacionado con el estrés, lo cual los investigadores propusieron como la forma en que aliviaba la fatiga.
En Surapaneni 2012, el estrés crónico por natación redujo la actividad de las enzimas de la cadena respiratoria mitocondrial (complejos I, II, IV y V) y el potencial de membrana mitocondrial en la corteza prefrontal, y elevó los marcadores de estrés oxidativo. El pretratamiento con shilajit estabilizó las actividades de los complejos enzimáticos y el potencial de membrana, y revirtió los marcadores de estrés oxidativo (óxido nítrico, peroxidación lipídica, superóxido dismutasa y catalasa), lo que llevó a los autores a señalar las mitocondrias como una posible diana. Este es un mecanismo propuesto a partir de un único estudio en animales.
The study · 1
Surapaneni 2012, J Ethnopharmacol · J Ethnopharmacol
Counts once: this finding and 1 other here come from the same source, so they are one body of evidence, not separate confirmations.
Más del 80 % sustancias húmicas más aproximadamente un 20 % minerales
El shilajit es principalmente sustancias húmicas como el ácido fúlvico, más minerales, y su composición exacta nunca se ha determinado por completo y varía mucho según su procedencia.
Kamgar 2025 revisó la literatura analítica e informa que más del 80 % del shilajit en peso son sustancias húmicas (el ácido fúlvico es la fracción activa más estudiada), alrededor de un 20 % son minerales dominados por calcio, potasio y magnesio, y el resto incluye aminoácidos (principalmente glicina) y proteínas, ácidos grasos, ácidos bioactivos como el cafeico y el gálico, dibenzo-alfa-pironas y metales traza, incluidos cromo, selenio y cobalto. La revisión subraya que ningún análisis químico exhaustivo ha caracterizado por completo el shilajit y que la composición difiere notablemente entre regiones de origen.
The study · 1
Kamgar 2025, Crit Rev Anal Chem · Crit Rev Anal Chem
El Ayurveda usó el shilajit como un rasayana durante más de mil años, purificado primero
El shilajit se ha usado como tónico rejuvenecedor en el Ayurveda durante bastante más de mil años, y la tradición nunca tomó la resina mineral cruda tal como se encuentra: la purificaba primero (un paso llamado Shodhana) para eliminar impurezas. La química moderna señala al ácido fúlvico y a una clase de compuestos llamados dibenzo-alfa-pironas como sus principales componentes activos.
Wilson 2011 revisó el shilajit en la medicina tradicional india y siddha, donde los textos clásicos y las farmacopeas lo describen como un rasayana o rejuvenecedor tomado para prevenir dolencias y mejorar la calidad de vida; el Charaka Samhita es uno de los textos que registran su uso prolongado. El Ayurveda clásico especifica la purificación (Shodhana) de la resina cruda mediante lavado y procesamiento en decocciones de hierbas como el Triphala kwath antes de considerarla apta para tomar, lo cual es el propio control de la tradición sobre la carga de minerales y metales que puede portar la resina cruda. Stohs 2014, al revisar la seguridad y la eficacia, identifica las dibenzo-alfa-pironas y el ácido fúlvico y sus derivados como los constituyentes más responsables de los efectos reportados, y señala que el shilajit purificado tiene un historial de seguridad bien documentado en estudios en animales y humanos, mientras que hasta ahora se han realizado relativamente pocos ensayos humanos bien controlados. El ácido fúlvico, una molécula pequeña soluble en agua, se une a minerales y ayuda a transportarlos a través de las membranas celulares, que es el papel de transportador mineral que la tradición intuyó antes de que se describiera la química.
The studies · 2
Wilson et al., review on shilajit used in traditional Indian medicine · J Ethnopharmacol 2011;136(1):1-9
Stohs, safety and efficacy of shilajit (mumie, moomiyo) · Phytother Res 2014;28(4):475-9
Cognition
El ácido fúlvico ralentizó en un ensayo de laboratorio la agrupación de tau relacionada con el alzhéimer, sin ensayo humano todavía
En experimentos de laboratorio, el ácido fúlvico del shilajit impidió que una proteína relacionada con el alzhéimer se agrupara, lo que ha llevado a los investigadores a proponerlo como un posible compuesto protector del cerebro.
Cornejo 2011 demostró en experimentos libres de células que el ácido fúlvico inhibe el ensamblaje de la proteína tau en filamentos helicoidales apareados y puede desensamblar filamentos ya formados, acortando la longitud de las fibrillas y alterando su estructura. Carrasco-Gallardo 2012 revisó este trabajo y otros relacionados y propuso el shilajit y el ácido fúlvico como posibles nutracéuticos procognitivos, a la vez que pedía estudios básicos y ensayos clínicos. Todo esto es evidencia de laboratorio y de nivel de revisión sobre un mecanismo; ningún ensayo controlado en humanos ha demostrado que el shilajit mejore la memoria o ralentice el deterioro cognitivo.
The studies · 2
Cornejo 2011, J Alzheimers Dis · J Alzheimers Dis
Carrasco-Gallardo 2012, Int J Alzheimers Dis · Int J Alzheimers Dis
Purity Is the Real Question
Because shilajit is scraped from rock, its safety depends on what else was in that rock. Elemental analysis of commercial Indian and Pakistani products has found lead, arsenic, mercury, and other metals above permissible limits. A broader review reported that shilajit can contain around 65 metals. Most products tested came in under safety limits, but some exceeded them. The authors concluded that taking it without knowing its metal content is not safe.
Classical Ayurveda never used raw resin. Practitioners first ran it through one preparatory step, Shodhana, a purification in herbal decoctions such as Triphala that strips much of the mineral and metal load. The humic and fulvic acids in shilajit can also bind some metals on their own. Neither the ancient step nor that natural binding makes an untested modern product safe. A natural origin does not make a product low in heavy metals; only a batch test shows that.
Only purified shilajit with independent heavy-metal testing is appropriate to take; a product that cannot show a certificate of analysis for its batch cannot be verified as clean.
How to Use It
Ways to Do It
If shilajit fits your goals, and any clinician guiding your care agrees, purity comes before dose.
Only purified shilajit is appropriate to take. Raw or unprocessed resin scraped from rock can carry heavy metals, mycotoxins, and free radicals, and purification removes much of that load. Purified extracts, often standardized to fulvic acid or dibenzo-alpha-pyrones, are the form used in the human studies. Raw or wild-harvested resin sold with no processing described has not been through that step.
Contamination depends on the source rock and cannot be judged by eye. The one check that matters is an independent laboratory test for lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium, ideally with a certificate of analysis for the specific batch. If a product will not show its heavy-metal results, its safety cannot be verified. This check matters more than the dose.
The testosterone trial used purified shilajit at 250 mg twice daily. The sperm study used processed shilajit at 100 mg twice daily. Both ran for 90 days, and those are the doses and durations the evidence covers. Doses above the studied 100 to 250 mg twice daily add risk without added benefit.
Judge shilajit by how you feel across the full three months, and give it that window before deciding. It is one input among many, and it works best paired with practices that have stronger evidence for the same goals, such as resistance training for testosterone and muscle.
Go Deeper
Shilajit works best next to practices with stronger human evidence for the same goals. For testosterone and muscle, resistance training is the higher-evidence, no-cost lever, and ashwagandha is the other herb men reach for. For the aging process behind these goals, see biological aging. Because shilajit is a mineral-bearing substance, clean water and remineralization covers minerals from a better-characterized source. If steady energy is your aim, the better-evidenced practices carry more of the load.
The Ayurvedic Tradition
The Charaka Samhita, a founding text of Ayurveda, describes shilajit as a rasayana taken over time to build strength and slow the wearing of age. It claims that, used properly, shilajit can help almost any treatable illness. One placebo-controlled trial and a long tradition of use justify interest, not a proven result. Its best-known traditional uses are vitality and the reproductive and urinary system, and Himalayan cultures relied on it continuously for well over a thousand years.
A Chinese Medicine Bridge
No historical Chinese text describes shilajit. Chinese medicine still works extensively with mineral and earth-derived substances, and its tonifying herbs, the bu herbs, replenish the body's reserves. The warming Kidney and Yang tonics are what a practitioner reaches for in someone depleted, cold, and low in drive. In that tradition the Kidney governs Jing, the deep constitutional essence tied to reproduction, growth, and aging. Some modern Western practitioners place shilajit beside these Kidney-Yang and Jing tonics by analogy. This pairing is a modern Western analogy, not a classical Chinese teaching. Shilajit's evidence rests on the Ayurvedic tradition and the modern studies.
Cautions
Shilajit carries five cautions, and the heavy-metal risk is the largest.
Cautions For This Practice
Extra restraintEverything to be aware of is here, in one place. This practice suits most healthy people; a few situations call for real care.
Puede contener alrededor de 65 metales, incluidos plomo, arsénico y mercurio tóxicos
Hussain 2024 revisó la bibliografía científica y las fuentes tradicionales e informa de que el shilajit puede contener alrededor de 65 metales, entre ellos los metales pesados tóxicos cobre, aluminio, plomo, arsénico, cadmio y mercurio. Los niveles notificados se situaban en general por debajo de los límites permisibles de la OMS y la FDA para medicamentos herbales, pero algunos estudios encontraron que se superaban esos límites. La revisión señala que las sustancias húmicas del shilajit pueden quelar alrededor de una docena de metales, lo que constituye un posible efecto protector, pero concluye que los datos sobre desintoxicación aún no están aclarados y que consumir shilajit sin conocer su contenido en metales no es seguro.Hussain 2024, Biol Trace Elem Res
El shilajit comercial analizado tenía plomo, arsénico y mercurio por encima de los límites seguros
Aldakheel 2022 analizó dos productos de shilajit ampliamente vendidos (uno indio, uno pakistaní) mediante espectroscopia de plasma inducido por láser, espectrometría de plasma acoplado inductivamente y espectroscopia de rayos X de energía dispersiva. Ambos eran ricos en los nutrientes calcio, azufre y potasio, pero también contenían aluminio, estroncio, manganeso, bario, zinc, níquel, boro, cromo, plomo, arsénico y mercurio por encima de los límites permisibles estándar, con toxinas en general más altas en la muestra india, y mercurio y titanio detectados solo en esta. Los autores plantearon el trabajo como una labor de concienciación sobre seguridad para los consumidores.Aldakheel 2022, Biol Trace Elem Res
Use only purified, tested product; raw resin can carry heavy metals
Raw or unpurified shilajit can carry toxic heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium, along with mycotoxins and free radicals. Testing of commercial products has found metals above permissible limits. Purification plus an independent batch test for those metals separates a usable product from an unverified one. Without a certificate of analysis, cleanliness cannot be confirmed.
Do not take it in pregnancy or while breastfeeding
Shilajit is not recommended during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Safety data is insufficient for both. The heavy-metal risk is of particular concern for a developing baby, since lead and mercury cross the placenta and pass into breast milk. The cautious course is to avoid it during pregnancy, while trying to conceive, and while breastfeeding.
Iron overload and hemochromatosis
Shilajit contains iron and other minerals and has been used traditionally to support iron levels. That is a reason for care if you have hereditary hemochromatosis or another iron-overload condition, where added iron can accumulate and cause harm. If you have an iron-overload disorder, treat shilajit as something to discuss with the doctor who oversees that condition before adding it.
Medications and existing conditions
Shilajit can affect testosterone, iron levels, and blood sugar. If you take hormone therapy, iron supplements, or diabetes medication, raise it with your clinician first. Anyone with active gout should also be cautious, as shilajit has been reported to raise uric acid. If you take regular medication or manage a chronic condition, treat starting shilajit as a decision to make with a professional.
Quality and source vary widely
The composition of shilajit differs markedly between regions and products, and no product is fully characterized, so what is in one jar is not necessarily what is in another. A trustworthy supply states its origin and processing and publishes batch heavy-metal testing; without that, purity cannot be confirmed.
Start slow, be smart, read the research, and consult a professional if you have any concerns. This is here to inform your choice, not make it for you.
Common Questions
Does shilajit actually raise testosterone?
In one trial, yes, and by a modest amount. Pandit's 2016 study gave middle-aged men purified shilajit at 250 mg twice daily for three months and measured rises in total and free testosterone, plus DHEAS. It was a single, small, industry-linked trial that listed no absolute hormone values, so the effect size and durability are not established.
Is shilajit safe, and what is the heavy-metal risk?
The safety question is about contamination from the source rock. Because it is drawn from rock, shilajit can carry toxic metals like lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium. One review found shilajit may hold roughly 65 metals in all, most tested products under safety limits but some above. Only a purified product with published third-party testing for heavy metals can be judged safe.
Does shilajit help with fatigue and energy?
The energy evidence is mostly from animals so far. A rat study of chronic fatigue found that a standardized extract cut fatigue-like behavior and protected mitochondrial function. That points to a plausible mechanism, but no controlled human trial has confirmed it, so treat the energy benefit as preliminary.
Can it improve fertility or sperm count?
The human evidence is a single uncontrolled study. Biswas 2010 treated 35 men who had low sperm counts. The 28 who completed it showed higher sperm count, better motility, higher testosterone, and less oxidative stress in semen. With no placebo group, some of the gain could come from expectation or natural variation over the three months. Animal studies also support a fertility benefit. The traditional use is worth taking seriously, though the evidence does not yet establish shilajit as a treatment for infertility.
How much do people take, and what should I look for in a product?
Studies used 100 to 250 mg of purified or processed shilajit, taken twice daily for roughly 90 days, so that is the range the evidence covers. What matters more than the dose is the product. Choose purified shilajit that names its source and processing method and provides a batch-specific certificate of analysis.
Explore Related
Other pages this one connects to, by the evidence they share, the outcomes they touch, and the ground they cover.
All 14 sources on this page independently checked and cross-referenced.
Thomas Dehli, Founder & Editor, Sacred Lotus
Sacred Lotus has published Chinese medicine reference material since 2001. Integrative pages are held to the same standard as the herb and formula library: cite the source, grade the claim at its real strength, and say where the research has not looked. This page is educational and it is not medical advice. Last reviewed and updated August 9, 2026.
Evidence strength
How confidently the research supports a claim. Strength describes the evidence, not our endorsement.