Shilajit vs Collagen Supplements: What the Human Evidence Shows for Skin, Joints, Bone and Muscle

Shilajit and collagen supplements are often pitched for the same things: firmer skin, healthier joints, stronger bones and faster recovery. They are very different products. Collagen peptides are a protein, taken in grams. Shilajit is a mineral-rich mountain resin, studied in milligrams. This article goes outcome by outcome through the human trials we could find for each, gives the numbers, and says plainly where one of them has no data at all.

What each one actually is

Collagen supplements are usually hydrolysed collagen, also called collagen peptides: collagen from animal connective tissue broken into short chains of amino acids so it dissolves and absorbs more easily. The trials below used doses from 5 g a day (bone) to 15 g a day (muscle). Because collagen comes from animal tissue, it is an animal-derived product.

Shilajit is a different kind of material. It is a pale-brown to blackish-brown mineral-organic exudate from Himalayan rock, described in the trials as a complex of fulvic acids, dibenzo-alpha-pyrones, proteins and minerals. The shilajit trials below used supplements at 250 to 1,000 mg a day, in several cases a purified or branded standardised extract.

That difference shapes the whole comparison. Collagen peptides supply the building blocks of the protein itself. Nothing in the shilajit trials suggests it supplies collagen. The research question for shilajit is whether it changes how the body makes or maintains its own connective tissue, which is a weaker kind of claim and one where the evidence is still early.

Skin: collagen has outcome trials, shilajit has gene-expression data

Collagen. A 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis in the International Journal of Dermatology pooled 19 randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials with 1,125 participants aged 20 to 70 (95% women). It found favourable results for skin hydration, elasticity and wrinkles, and concluded that about 90 days of hydrolysed collagen reduced signs of skin ageing [1]. A 2023 meta-analysis in Nutrients pooled 26 randomised trials with 1,721 participants and found significant improvements in hydration (Z = 4.94, p < 0.00001) and elasticity (Z = 4.49, p < 0.00001) compared with placebo. The hydration effect varied with the collagen source and the length of supplementation, and the authors identified several biases in the included trials and called for larger studies [2]. A published letter on the first review raised concerns about the heterogeneity of the studies that were pooled [3].

Shilajit. We found no randomised trial of shilajit that measured wrinkles, hydration or elasticity. The closest study is a 2019 randomised trial in healthy adult women given 125 mg or 250 mg of shilajit twice daily for 14 weeks, with skin biopsies taken at the start and end. At the higher dose, skin perfusion (blood flow in the skin) improved compared with baseline and with placebo. Gene analysis, confirmed by RT-PCR, pointed to genes involved in endothelial cell migration, growth of blood vessels and the extracellular matrix, the protein scaffold that includes collagen. No adverse effects were reported during the 14 weeks [8]. The published abstract does not report any appearance outcome.

Joints: a collagen signal with wide disagreement, nothing for shilajit

Collagen. A 2019 meta-analysis in International Orthopaedics found that collagen supplementation reduced the total WOMAC osteoarthritis score (weighted mean difference -8.00; 95% CI -13.04 to -2.95; p = 0.002) and the VAS pain score (-16.57; 95% CI -26.24 to -6.89). Inside the WOMAC, the stiffness subscore improved (-0.41; p = 0.01), but the pain and function subscores were not significant on their own [4]. A 2025 update pooled 11 randomised trials with 870 participants (451 collagen, 419 placebo) and found improvements in function (mean difference -6.46; 95% CI -9.52 to -3.40) and pain (-13.63; 95% CI -20.67 to -6.58) [5].

The heterogeneity statistics matter here. The I-squared values were 75% for function and 88% for pain, which means the individual trials disagreed a great deal and the average hides a wide spread of results. These reviews also pooled collagen-based supplements in general, so the figures are an average across whatever products the trials used.

Shilajit. We found no randomised human trial of shilajit in osteoarthritis or joint pain. For our own summary of the claim, see Shilajit and Joint Pain.

Bone: one randomised trial each, both unreplicated

Collagen. A 12-month trial in Nutrients enrolled 131 postmenopausal women with age-related low bone mineral density (BMD) and gave 5 g a day of specific collagen peptides or placebo. In the intention-to-treat analysis, spine BMD T-score changed by +0.1 (SD 0.26) with collagen versus -0.03 (SD 0.18) with placebo (p = 0.030), and femoral neck by +0.09 (SD 0.24) versus -0.01 (SD 0.19) (p = 0.003). A bone formation marker (P1NP) rose in the collagen group (p = 0.007), while a bone breakdown marker (CTX-1) rose in the control group (p = 0.011). Of the 131 women, 102 completed the study [6]. The T-score changes are small in absolute terms.

Shilajit. A 2022 randomised, double-blind trial in Phytomedicine enrolled 60 postmenopausal women aged 45 to 65 with osteopenia and gave placebo, 250 mg or 500 mg of a standardised aqueous shilajit extract daily for 48 weeks. BMD of the lumbar spine and femoral neck fell progressively with placebo, and that decline was reduced in a dose-dependent way with shilajit (p < 0.001 for the change from baseline at 24 and 48 weeks versus placebo). Bone breakdown markers (CTX-1, RANKL) fell, the bone-protective marker OPG rose, oxidative stress (MDA) fell, glutathione rose, and the inflammation marker hsCRP fell in the shilajit groups [12].

A separate 2020 randomised trial in Iran tested momiai, the Persian-medicine name for shilajit, in 160 adults after surgery for a tibial shaft fracture. Two 500 mg capsules a day for 28 days were associated with a mean time to bone union of 129 days versus 153 days with placebo (p < 0.049), with no significant difference in adverse effects [13]. The p-value is close to the usual threshold, and the preparation used is not described in the abstract, so this should be read as a promising single result.

For both products, BMD and union time are surrogate outcomes. Neither trial measured fractures. Neither collagen nor shilajit is a treatment for osteoporosis, and anyone with low bone density or a fracture should follow their doctor's advice.

Muscle and connective tissue

Collagen. In a 12-week randomised trial in the British Journal of Nutrition, 53 men with sarcopenia (mean age 72.2) did guided resistance training three times a week and took 15 g of collagen peptides or placebo daily. Both groups improved, but the collagen group gained more fat-free mass (+4.2 kg versus +2.9 kg), more isokinetic quadriceps strength (+16.5 Nm versus +7.3 Nm) and lost more fat mass (-5.4 kg versus -3.5 kg), all p < 0.05 between groups [7].

Shilajit. Three small studies are relevant, in healthy or overweight men and women. Two of the three describe a purified or branded standardised extract:

• Muscle gene expression (2016). In overweight and class I obese adults, 250 mg twice daily for 8 weeks was followed by an increase in a cluster of 17 extracellular matrix probe sets in muscle biopsies, including collagen, elastin, decorin and fibronectin 1, confirmed by RT-PCR. The abstract describes the comparison as against each participant's own baseline and does not mention a placebo group. Blood glucose, lipids, creatine kinase and myoglobin did not change [9].
• Strength after fatigue (2019). In 63 recreationally active men, 8 weeks of 250 mg or 500 mg a day versus placebo (21 per group) was tested on maximal voluntary contraction and serum hydroxyproline, a by-product of collagen breakdown. The benefit appeared only after the men were split at the median of baseline strength and hydroxyproline: in the upper half, the 500 mg group lost 8.9% of strength after a fatiguing protocol versus 17.0% for 250 mg and 16.0% for placebo, and had lower hydroxyproline (1.5 versus 2.4 micrograms per mL) [10]. A split made at the median is a weaker design than a result in the full groups.
• Collagen synthesis marker (2024). In 35 recreationally trained men aged about 21, 8 weeks of 500 mg or 1,000 mg a day versus placebo raised serum Pro-C1a1, a marker of type 1 collagen synthesis, from about 42.5 to 82.3 ng/mL (500 mg) and from about 42.7 to 113.1 ng/mL (1,000 mg), with no change in the placebo group (p = 0.008 and 0.007). The spread was large (standard deviations of 46.5 and 78.7 ng/mL after supplementation). A rise above the minimally important difference occurred in 75% of the 1,000 mg group versus 30% of placebo (p = 0.03); for the 500 mg group (69%) the difference from placebo was not significant (p = 0.06) [11].

These results are consistent with an effect on the body's collagen metabolism, but they are biomarker and gene-expression results in small, mostly young male samples. None of them measured tendon, skin or joint outcomes. The 2019 trial tested a branded extract, so the findings do not automatically transfer to a different product or to raw resin.

Doses used in the trials

The gap in dose is one of the clearest differences between the two products. The figures below are the doses actually tested, not recommendations.

A 15 g dose of collagen is 30 to 60 times the milligram dose of shilajit used in most of these trials, which reflects the fact that collagen acts as a protein supply while shilajit is studied as a bioactive supplement. One serve of ShilNepal resin is 0.3 g, or 300 mg, of unstandardised resin, so it should not be assumed to match the extracts that were tested. See Shilajit Dosage for Adults: What the Research Actually Used for the full dosing picture.

Side-by-side summary

The honest verdict

If the goal is skin hydration or knee osteoarthritis symptoms, collagen peptides are the option with direct randomised evidence, with the caveats about trial quality and disagreement between trials set out above. If you are curious about shilajit, the fair summary is that early human studies show effects on gene expression, on a marker of collagen synthesis, and, in one trial, on bone density, mostly using standardised extracts, and none showing a visible skin or joint outcome.

The two are not substitutes for each other, they act through different mechanisms at very different doses, and we found no trial that tested them together, so there is no evidence on whether combining them adds anything. Neither is a treatment for osteoarthritis, osteoporosis or a fracture.

References

1. de Miranda RB, Weimer P, Rossi RC. Effects of hydrolyzed collagen supplementation on skin aging: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Dermatol. 2021;60(12):1449-1461. DOI: 10.1111/ijd.15518. PMID: 33742704.
2. Pu SY, Huang YL, Pu CM, et al. Effects of Oral Collagen for Skin Anti-Aging: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2023;15(9). DOI: 10.3390/nu15092080. PMID: 37432180.
3. Peres G, Ianhez M, Polo TCF, et al. Concerning the heterogeneity of the studies included in meta-analyses. Comment on: Effects of hydrolyzed collagen supplementation on skin aging. Int J Dermatol. 2022;61(3):e99-e101. DOI: 10.1111/ijd.15748. PMID: 34196407.
4. Garcia-Coronado JM, Martinez-Olvera L, Elizondo-Omana RE, et al. Effect of collagen supplementation on osteoarthritis symptoms: a meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials. Int Orthop. 2019;43(3):531-538. DOI: 10.1007/s00264-018-4211-5. PMID: 30368550.
5. Simental-Mendia M, Ortega-Mata D, Acosta-Olivo CA, et al. Effect of collagen supplementation on knee osteoarthritis: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2025;43(1):126-134. DOI: 10.55563/clinexprheumatol/kflfr5. PMID: 39212129.
6. Konig D, Oesser S, Scharla S, et al. Specific Collagen Peptides Improve Bone Mineral Density and Bone Markers in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Study. Nutrients. 2018;10(1). DOI: 10.3390/nu10010097. PMID: 29337906.
7. Zdzieblik D, Oesser S, Baumstark MW, et al. Collagen peptide supplementation in combination with resistance training improves body composition and increases muscle strength in elderly sarcopenic men: a randomised controlled trial. Br J Nutr. 2015;114(8):1237-1245. DOI: 10.1017/S0007114515002810. PMID: 26353786.
8. Das A, El Masry MS, Gnyawali SC, 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):526-536. DOI: 10.1080/07315724.2018.1564088. PMID: 31161927.
9. Das A, Datta S, Rhea B, et al. The Human Skeletal Muscle Transcriptome in Response to Oral Shilajit Supplementation. J Med Food. 2016;19(7):701-709. DOI: 10.1089/jmf.2016.0010. PMID: 27414521.
10. 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;16(1):3. DOI: 10.1186/s12970-019-0270-2. PMID: 30728074.
11. Neltner TJ, Sahoo PK, Smith RW, et al. Effects of 8 Weeks of Shilajit Supplementation on Serum Pro-c1a1, a Biomarker of Type 1 Collagen Synthesis: A Randomized Control Trial. J Diet Suppl. 2024;21(1):1-12. DOI: 10.1080/19390211.2022.2157522. PMID: 36546868.
12. 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: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Phytomedicine. 2022;105:154334. DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2022.154334. PMID: 35933897.
13. Sadeghi SMH, Hosseini Khameneh SM, Khodadoost M, et al. Efficacy of Momiai in Tibia Fracture Repair: A Randomized Double-Blinded Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2020;26(6):521-528. DOI: 10.1089/acm.2019.0453. PMID: 32310691.

All trial figures above are taken from the PubMed abstracts and metadata of the cited papers. We did not review the full texts, so details such as exact funding, extract specifications and secondary outcomes are not covered here.

Related Reading

• Evidence reviewShilajit Science: What Human Evidence Actually Shows
• MethodHow to Read Shilajit Research
• DosageShilajit Dosage for Adults
• Verify it yourselfShilNepal Lab Test Results