We sell shilajit. The human evidence is thinner than the marketing.

The short version

• The shilajit testosterone trial the category rests on gave 250mg twice daily for 90 days to healthy volunteers aged 45 to 55 and reported significant increases without publishing a sample size, effect size or confidence interval in its abstract.
• The better-designed shilajit strength trial found its result only in a subgroup created by splitting 63 men at the median, and its 250mg dose did not differ from placebo at all.
• A 2024 systematic review of 52 studies across 27 testosterone-booster ingredients concluded most fail to raise total testosterone, and classed purified shilajit extract as possibly effective specifically for men with late-onset hypogonadism.
• Shilajit is a mineral exudate rather than a single molecule, so two products carrying the same name can differ in fulvic acid content, standardisation and contaminant risk.
• Neither of the two human shilajit findings has been replicated, and purified is not a regulated term on a supplement label.

We stock shilajit and it sells well. This article will make it harder to sell, and we are publishing it anyway, because the distance between how shilajit is marketed to men and what has actually been measured in humans is the widest gap on our shelf.

First, what it is. Shilajit is a mineral exudate collected from rock, used in Ayurveda, composed of fulvic acids, dibenzo-α-pyrones, proteins and minerals. That description matters more than it looks: shilajit is a mixture, not a molecule. Two products carrying the same word on the front can be materially different substances, with different fulvic acid content, different standardisation and different contaminant risk. "Purified" is doing enormous work on most labels, and it is not a regulated term.

The testosterone trial, and what its abstract does not contain

The study the entire category rests on is Pandit and colleagues, 2016, in Andrologia. Healthy volunteers aged 45 to 55, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, taking 250mg of purified shilajit twice a day for 90 consecutive days. It reported significantly increased total testosterone, free testosterone and DHEA-S versus placebo at P < 0.05, with LH and FSH maintained.

Here is the honest part. That published abstract gives you a p-value and very little else — no sample size, no effect size, no confidence intervals, no baseline values. You cannot tell from it whether total testosterone moved by 20 ng/dL or by 200. A single small trial from a single centre reporting statistical significance without magnitude is close to the weakest form of positive evidence there is. That is not an accusation of anything. It is a description of how much weight the result can carry, which is: not much on its own.

The strength trial, and the subgroup problem

Keller and colleagues, 2019, in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, is the better-designed study. Sixty-three recreationally active men, mean age 21, randomised to 250mg a day, 500mg a day, or placebo — 21 per group — for eight weeks. They tested maximal voluntary isometric contraction, then two sets of 50 maximal concentric leg extensions to induce fatigue, then retested.

The reported result: in the upper 50th percentile group, the post-supplementation decline in maximal strength after the fatiguing protocol was smaller in the 500mg group (8.9 ± 2.3%) than in the low-dose (17.0 ± 2.4%, p = 0.022) and placebo (16.0 ± 2.4%, p = 0.044) groups. Serum hydroxyproline, a connective tissue marker, was also lower. Low dose versus placebo showed no difference at all (p = 0.774).

Read the phrase "upper 50th percentile group" carefully, because it is the whole story. The significant findings come from a subgroup created by splitting the sample at the median on baseline strength and baseline hydroxyproline — in a trial with 21 men per arm before you halve them. Finding an effect in one half of a small trial is a hypothesis worth testing again. It is not a finding you build a product claim on, and it has not been replicated.

Where the systematic reviewers landed

A 2024 systematic review of testosterone boosters in the International Journal of Impotence Research assessed 52 studies across 27 marketed ingredients and concluded that most fail to increase total testosterone. A purified shilajit extract was among the small number they classed as possibly effective — and specifically for men with late-onset hypogonadism, not for healthy men.

That is a narrow verdict about a defined clinical population and a specific standardised extract. It is not a green light for a forty-five-year-old with normal labs, and it does not transfer to an unstandardised resin of unknown provenance. Being one of the least-dismissed items in a review that dismissed most of them is a real signal. It is also a low bar, and we would rather describe it as one.

What would have to be true

For shilajit to sit in your routine on evidence rather than atmosphere, three things would need to happen. None of them have:

1. A replication of the Pandit hormone finding at adequate sample size, reporting effect sizes and confidence intervals rather than a bare p-value.
2. A pre-registered trial testing Keller's fatigue-resistance result in the full sample, not a median split.
3. Routine, batch-level third-party verification of heavy metal content across the category — because a mineral-rich material collected from rock is a plausible contamination route, and no consumer can assess that by looking at a jar.

What we'd actually tell you

If you want to run the experiment anyway — which is a legitimate choice, and it is yours to make — do it properly. Use a purified, standardised extract at the doses that were actually studied: 250mg twice daily in the hormone trial, 500mg a day in the strength trial. Give it eight to twelve weeks, because that is how long those trials ran.

Decide in advance what would count as a result, and write it down before you start. "I think I feel a bit sharper" is not a measurement, and it is how men end up three years into a supplement they have no way of evaluating.

And if the real question underneath this is "why am I flat and tired at forty-seven," the highest-value move is not this bottle. It is a blood panel and a doctor who will read it properly. We would rather lose the sale and be right.

Good questions

Does shilajit raise testosterone?

One small trial says so, and it is weaker evidence than it looks. Healthy volunteers aged 45 to 55 took 250mg twice daily for 90 days, and total testosterone, free testosterone and DHEA-S rose significantly against placebo. The published abstract gives a p-value and no sample size, effect size, confidence interval or baseline values, so you cannot tell how large the change was.

Will shilajit help if my testosterone is already normal?

There is no good evidence that it will. A 2024 systematic review of 52 studies across 27 testosterone-booster ingredients classed purified shilajit extract as possibly effective specifically for men with late-onset hypogonadism, which is a defined clinical population rather than healthy men with normal labs. Being among the least-dismissed items in that review is a real signal and a low bar.

Why do you sell shilajit if the evidence is this thin?

Because people want to run the experiment, and we would rather they ran it with accurate information than with marketing. This article makes shilajit harder for us to sell and we published it anyway. The distance between how shilajit is marketed to men and what has actually been measured in humans is the widest gap on our shelf.

Does shilajit contain heavy metals?

It can, and you cannot assess that by looking at a jar. Shilajit is a mineral-rich material collected from rock, which is a plausible contamination route, and purified is not a regulated term. Choose products with published batch-level third-party heavy-metals testing.

What dose of shilajit was used in the studies?

250mg twice daily for 90 days in the hormone trial, and 500mg a day for eight weeks in the strength trial. Use a purified, standardised extract, give it eight to twelve weeks because that is how long those trials ran, and decide in advance what would count as a result before you spend anything.

Sources

1. Pandit S, Biswas S, Jana U, et al. Clinical evaluation of purified Shilajit on testosterone levels in healthy volunteers. Andrologia, 2016. View study
2. Keller JL, Housh TJ, Hill EC, et al. The effects of Shilajit supplementation on fatigue-induced decreases in muscular strength and serum hydroxyproline levels. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2019. View study
3. Morgado A, Tsampoukas G, Sokolakis I, et al. Do “testosterone boosters” really increase serum total testosterone? A systematic review. Int J Impot Res, 2024. View study

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.