Shilajit by the Numbers: Verified Facts, Figures and Study Details
This is the reference page we wanted when we started reading about shilajit. Every figure below has a named source. Where we couldn't confirm a number, we left it out instead of rounding it into something that sounds better, so you will see a few gaps and we would rather you did.
At a glance
Shilajit is a mountain exudate made mostly of humic substances. We could verify twelve human studies against their PubMed abstracts: seven with a placebo group (one of them a combination product), one against an active comparison tablet, and four with no control group. Daily amounts ranged from 200mg to 2g of various materials, and from 6 to 12mg inside one blend. A 30g ShilNepal tin holds about 100 standard 0.3g serves. Those doses came from specific processed preparations, so the tin arithmetic is for orientation, not dosing advice.
In this article
What it is and what it contains
- Shilajit is a pale-brown to blackish-brown exudation of variable consistency, found in mountain ranges and particularly the Himalayas. Agarwal et al., 2007
- It is a complex mixture of organic humic substances and plant and microbial metabolites. Agarwal et al., 2007
- It appears in twenty classical Ayurvedic (Sastric) formulations and twenty-four proprietary drugs, yet the authors of the main review concluded that its bioactivity lacks substantial evidence. Wilson et al., 2011
- A 2025 chemical analysis of native Himalayan shilajit using GC-MS identified fulvic acid, dibenzo-alpha-pyrones and phenolic compounds. Basavaraja et al., ACS Omega, 2025
- A 2026 study separated shilajit into humins, humic acid and fulvic acid fractions and tentatively identified 36 low-molecular-weight compounds. Karalatti and David, Chemistry and Biodiversity, 2026
- A 2026 comparison of shilajit from five regions measured nine phenolic acids, including gallic, vanillic, caffeic and ferulic acid. Kamgar et al., Scientific Reports, 2026
The terms humin, humic acid and fulvic acid are not brand words. They are defined by how the material behaves in chemistry glassware, as the diagram shows.
The twelve human studies
These are the human studies we could verify against a source abstract, newest design details first where the abstract gave them. Where the abstract did not state the number of participants, the table says so. Four of the twelve have no control group, and one tests shilajit only as a small part of a blend.
| Study | Design | People | Amount and length | Headline result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pandit 2016, Andrologia | Placebo-controlled RCT | Healthy men aged 45 to 55. Number not in abstract. | 250mg twice daily, 90 days | Total testosterone, free testosterone and DHEAS higher than placebo |
| Keller 2019, J Int Soc Sports Nutr | Placebo-controlled RCT | 63 recreationally active young men, 21 per group, mean age 21.2 | 250mg or 500mg a day, 8 weeks | After a fatigue protocol, strength fell 8.9% on 500mg versus 17.0% on 250mg and 16.0% on placebo, in the stronger half of participants only |
| Das 2019, J Am Coll Nutr | Placebo-controlled | Healthy adult women. Number not in abstract. | 125mg or 250mg twice daily, 14 weeks | Skin perfusion improved at 250mg twice daily compared with baseline and placebo; no adverse effects reported |
| Neltner 2024, J Diet Suppl | Placebo-controlled RCT | 35 recreationally trained young men | 500mg or 1,000mg a day, 8 weeks | Serum pro-C1a1 (a collagen synthesis marker) rose in both shilajit groups and not in the placebo group |
| Pingali 2022, Phytomedicine | Placebo-controlled RCT | 60 postmenopausal women with osteopenia | 250mg or 500mg a day, 48 weeks | Bone density loss dose-dependently attenuated versus placebo; lower MDA and hsCRP, higher glutathione |
| Sadeghi 2020, J Altern Complement Med | Placebo-controlled RCT | 160 adults after tibia fracture | Two 500mg capsules a day, 28 days | Mean tibial union time 129 days versus 153 days on placebo (p < 0.049) |
| Martinez 2025, Nutrients | Placebo-controlled RCT | 166 adults with metabolic risk factors | 6mg or 12mg shilajit inside a blend with chromium and amla, 12 weeks | Some improvements in vascular and metabolic markers; cannot be attributed to shilajit alone |
| Gupta 2016, Ayu | Active comparator, no placebo | Type 2 diabetes. 90 enrolled, 80 completed. | 500mg twice daily, 3 months | Fasting glucose down 24.01%, versus 26.03% on a comparison tablet |
| Biswas 2010, Andrologia | No control group | Men with low sperm counts. 60 screened, 35 enrolled, 28 completed. | 100mg twice daily, 90 days | Total sperm count up 61.4%, testosterone up 23.5%, in the 28 who finished |
| Das 2016, J Med Food | No placebo described | Overweight or class I obese adults. Number not in abstract. | 250mg twice daily, 8 weeks, plus 4 weeks with exercise | Higher expression of extracellular matrix genes in muscle biopsies |
| Yadav 2026, Cureus | Open-label pilot | 25 healthy men aged 21 to 55 | 500mg a day of a resin, 28 days | Higher leg press strength and lower fatigue scores versus baseline, with no control group |
| Sharma 2003, Anc Sci Life | Limited design detail | Normal volunteers. Number not in abstract. | 2g a day, 45 days | Reported lower triglycerides and cholesterol; hypothesis-generating only |
Only testosterone has been examined by more than one study, in different groups of men and with only one using a placebo. That is the most useful single fact on this page if you are weighing claims. For the full discussion, see Shilajit Science: What Human Evidence Actually Shows.
Daily amounts used in research
Add up each study's schedule and the daily amounts, for shilajit-only products, run from 200mg to 2g. Most controlled trials sit at 500mg or below, with Neltner 2024 (1,000mg) and Sadeghi 2020 (two 500mg capsules) at the top of the controlled range.
| Daily amount | Studies using it |
|---|---|
| 200mg | Biswas 2010 |
| 250mg | Keller 2019 (low dose), Pingali 2022 (low dose) |
| 500mg | Pandit 2016, Das 2016, Das 2019 (high dose), Keller 2019 (high dose), Pingali 2022 (high dose), Neltner 2024 (low dose), Yadav 2026 |
| 1,000mg | Neltner 2024 (high dose), Sadeghi 2020, Gupta 2016 |
| 2,000mg | Sharma 2003 (limited design detail) |
Total daily amount calculated from each published schedule. The preparations were processed or purified shilajit products made for the studies, not the same as any particular tin on a shelf.
What those amounts mean for a 30g tin
This is plain division. It tells you how fast a tin goes at each research amount. It is not a recommendation, and we explain how to think about amounts in Shilajit Dosage: What the Research Actually Used.
| Daily amount | As 0.3g serves | Days a 30g tin lasts |
|---|---|---|
| 200mg | 0.67 | 150 |
| 250mg | 0.83 | 120 |
| 300mg (one standard serve) | 1 | 100 |
| 500mg | 1.67 | 60 |
| 1,000mg | 3.33 | 30 |
| 2,000mg | 6.67 | 15 |
How strong the evidence is, in numbers
- Verified human studies in this article: 12. Placebo-controlled: 7 (one of them a blend). Active comparator without placebo: 1. No control group: 4.
- Completion in the two studies where we could read the numbers: 28 of 35 enrolled (80%) in Biswas 2010 and 80 of 90 (89%) in Gupta 2016. Both are small and neither had a placebo group.
- The largest shilajit-only trial is Sadeghi 2020 with 160 patients; the largest overall is Martinez 2025 with 166 adults, testing a blend.
- Longest follow-up: 48 weeks (Pingali 2022).
- Study populations are mostly young men, postmenopausal women with osteopenia, or people with a specific condition. We found no large trial in a general adult population.
- Replication: testosterone is the only outcome with more than one human study (Pandit 2016 and Biswas 2010), and only Pandit had a placebo group. We found no independent replication of any single result.
ShilNepal product facts
- Net weight: 30g per tin. Standard serve: about 0.3g, roughly a pea-sized amount. Serves per tin: about 100.
- Current batch: 1093. Heavy metals were tested by Eurofins Food Australia (report dated 13 November 2025). Fulvic acid (79% to 81%) and humic acid (17% to 19%) figures on our lab page come from a separate compositional analysis, not from the Eurofins report.
- The resin is described on the product page as having no additives, and as water-purified and sun-dried after hand collection.
- Orders ship from Queensland, Australia, and are covered by a voluntary 14-day money-back guarantee, in addition to Australian Consumer Law rights. See the refund policy for conditions.
- The product is not registered with the Therapeutic Goods Administration and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Contamination figures for athletes
- Sport Integrity Australia had 200 online sports supplements tested by HASTA. 35% contained at least one WADA prohibited substance, and 57% of those positives did not declare it on the label. Sport Integrity Australia, 2025
- A 2022 Consumer NZ investigation found illegal drugs or banned substances in 6 supplements from New Zealand stores. Sport Integrity Commission Te Kahu Raunui
The full context, including what these figures don't say about shilajit, is in Is Shilajit Banned in Sport?
Quick questions
What is shilajit made of?
Mostly humic substances, which include humic acid and fulvic acid, plus plant and microbial metabolites and phenolic compounds. The exact proportions vary between samples.
How many human trials of shilajit exist?
We could verify twelve human studies against source abstracts: seven with a placebo group, one with an active comparator, and four with no control group. There may be others we did not find.
What amounts of shilajit have been studied?
Between 200mg and 2g a day across the shilajit-only studies, most controlled trials at 500mg or below, using specific processed preparations.
How many serves are in a ShilNepal 30g tin?
About 100, based on a 0.3g serve.
Has shilajit been proven to work?
No. The authors of the main review concluded that its bioactivity lacks substantial evidence, and the studies we found are small and largely unreplicated.
References
- Agarwal SP, Khanna R, Karmarkar R, Anwer MK, Khar RK. Shilajit: a review. Phytotherapy Research. 2007;21(5):401 to 405.
- Wilson E, Rajamanickam GV, Dubey GP, et al. Review on shilajit used in traditional Indian medicine. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 2011;136(1):1 to 9.
- Pandit S, et al. Clinical evaluation of purified Shilajit on testosterone levels in healthy volunteers. Andrologia. 2016;48(5):570 to 575. PMID 26395129.
- Keller JL, et al. The effects of Shilajit supplementation on fatigue-induced decreases in muscular strength and serum hydroxyproline levels. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2019;16(1):3. PMID 30728074.
- Das A, et al. Skin transcriptome of middle-aged women supplemented with natural herbo-mineral Shilajit shows induction of microvascular and extracellular matrix mechanisms. J Am Coll Nutr. 2019;38(6):526 to 536. PMID 31161927.
- Neltner TJ, et al. Effects of 8 weeks of shilajit supplementation on serum pro-C1alpha1, a biomarker of type 1 collagen synthesis: a randomized control trial. J Diet Suppl. 2024;21(1):1 to 12. PMID 36546868.
- Pingali U, Nutalapati C. Shilajit extract reduces oxidative stress, inflammation, and bone loss to dose-dependently preserve bone mineral density in postmenopausal women with osteopenia. Phytomedicine. 2022;105:154334. PMID 35933897.
- Sadeghi SMH, et al. Efficacy of momiai in tibia fracture repair: a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled clinical trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2020;26(6):521 to 528. PMID 32310691.
- Martinez V, et al. Effects of 12 weeks of chromium, Phyllanthus emblica fruit extract, and shilajit supplementation on markers of cardiometabolic health, fitness, and weight loss. Nutrients. 2025;17(12). PMID 40573153.
- Gupta V, Keshari BB, Tiwari SK, Murthy KHHVSSN. A comparative study of Shilajatu and Asanadi Ghana Vati in the management of Madhumeha with reference to type-2 diabetes mellitus. Ayu. 2016;37(2). PMC5688834.
- Biswas TK, et al. Clinical evaluation of spermatogenic activity of processed Shilajit in oligospermia. Andrologia. 2010;42(1):48 to 56. PMID 20078516.
- Das A, et al. The human skeletal muscle transcriptome in response to oral shilajit supplementation. J Med Food. 2016;19(7):701 to 709. PMID 27414521.
- Yadav D, et al. Safety and efficacy of TruBlk shilajit resin supplementation on physical performance and blood biomarkers in healthy adults: a 28-day open-label pilot study. Cureus. 2026;18(1):e102372. PMID 41613504.
- Sharma P, et al. Shilajit: evaluation of its effects on blood chemistry of normal human subjects. Anc Sci Life. 2003;23(2):114 to 119. PMID 22557121.
- Basavaraja D, Katkar R, Dhaka P, et al. Chemical analysis of native Himalayan shilajit: an evaluation of an Ayurvedic formulation. ACS Omega. 2025. PMID 41404054.
- Karalatti SM, David M. Unveiling the bioactive potential of shilajit: integrated chemical profiling and antimicrobial evaluation. Chemistry and Biodiversity. 2026. PMID 42627000.
- Kamgar E, Spryszynska A, Zembrzuska J, et al. Plant-derived phenolic acids in Shilajit: a comparative HPLC-MS/MS analysis across five regions. Scientific Reports. 2026. PMID 41699045.
- International Humic Substances Society. What are humic substances? Solubility-based definitions of humic acid, fulvic acid and humin.
- Sport Integrity Australia. New supplement survey finds one in three products contain banned substances. April 2025.
Figures were checked against source abstracts. Where only an abstract was available, we did not report anything it didn't state. This is general information, not medical advice.