Shilajit Scientific References and Clinical Study Library
Shilajit Scientific References and Clinical Study Library
Online claims about shilajit often cite “studies” without saying what kind, how large, or who paid for them. This library lists the traceable papers behind the topic, sorted by evidence type, so you can see at a glance which are human trials and which are lab work. A reference appearing here does not mean a claimed benefit is established.
How This Library of Shilajit Scientific References Is Organized
Order of evidence: systematic reviews and meta-analyses first, then randomized trials, then uncontrolled human studies, then pharmacokinetic, safety, and mechanistic or preclinical work. Narrative reviews are listed separately because they summarize rather than systematically test.
Verification codes (used in every table):
- A: I saw a bibliographic record (PubMed, publisher, PMC, or trial registry) that matches the title and details.
- B: One or more details (such as the PMID, sample size or dose) come only from trade press or another secondary source. Confirm before citing.
How the library was built: targeted web searches in October 2026 on named studies and topics, with no date limit. This is not a PRISMA search. I did not query Embase, Cochrane CENTRAL, Scopus or Web of Science, so the library is a verified subset, not a complete census.
Funding note: Many trials used one branded extract (PrimaVie, Natreon). Funding or product-supply statements are noted only where a source stated them. Otherwise they read “not verified.”
Shilajit Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
Systematic reviews
| ID | Citation | Year | Scope and findings | Limitations | Links | Ver. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | Pre-clinical Evaluation of Shilajit in Cancer: A Systematic Review. Authors and journal to confirm (one secondary source names Cureus). PROSPERO CRD420251128736 | 2026 (per secondary source) | Followed PRISMA. Searched PubMed, Ovid Discovery and Google Scholar. Included 9 preclinical studies. Found no human randomized trials of shilajit in cancer. | Preclinical only; the review notes concerns about dose, standardization and possible interactions with chemotherapy. | PMC12866998 | A |
| S2 | Hussain A, Saeed A. Hazardous or Advantageous: Uncovering the Roles of Heavy Metals and Humic Substances in Shilajit (Phyto-mineral)… Biol Trace Elem Res. 2024;202(12):5794-5814 | 2024 | Reviews the metals and humic substances reported in shilajit and their detoxification mechanisms. Secondary sources describe it as a systematic review and report about 65 metals across samples. | Covers composition and contamination, not clinical efficacy. Review type and counts need confirming in the full text. | PMID 38393486 | B |
Meta-analyses
I found no meta-analysis of shilajit trials. With few trials and varied outcomes, pooling would currently be hard to justify. Sites that cite a “systematic review and meta-analysis” of shilajit contaminants or clinical efficacy gave no verifiable details (see “Leads I Could Not Verify”).
Narrative (non-systematic) reviews
| ID | Citation | Year | Notes | Links | Ver. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N1 | Agarwal SP, et al. Shilajit: a review. Phytother Res. 2007;21(5):401-405 | 2007 | Describes composition and traditional use; says many properties were “verified by modern scientific evaluation.” | PMID 17295385 · DOI | A |
| N2 | Wilson E, et al. Review on shilajit used in traditional Indian medicine. J Ethnopharmacol. 2011;136(1):1-9 | 2011 | Concludes bioactivity “lacks substantial evidence”; calls for further studies. | PMID 21530631 | A (abstract); authors from memory, confirm |
| N3 | Carrasco-Gallardo C, Guzmán L, Maccioni RB. Shilajit: a natural phytocomplex with potential procognitive activity. Int J Alzheimers Dis. 2012 | 2012 | Hypothesis-oriented review; not human trial evidence. | DOI | B |
| N4 | Stohs SJ. Safety and efficacy of shilajit (mumie, moomiyo). Phytother Res. 2014;28(4):475-479 | 2014 | Notes few peer-reviewed human controlled studies; calls for standardized-product studies. | PMID 23733436 | B |
| N5 | Shilajit (Mumie): Current Status of Biochemical, Therapeutic and Clinical Advances. Bentham Science, vol. 15, issue 2. Authors and year to confirm | — | Notes major gaps in mechanism, efficacy variability and toxicity profile. | DOI | A (abstract) |
Shilajit Clinical Studies: Randomized Controlled Trials
Outcomes are as reported in abstracts or secondary summaries. Most are surrogate or laboratory endpoints.
| ID | Citation | Design and population | Dose / form | Reported outcomes | Limitations; funding | Links | Ver. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Pandit S, Biswas S, Jana U, De RK, Mukhopadhyay SC, Biswas TK. Clinical evaluation of purified shilajit on testosterone levels in healthy volunteers. Andrologia. 2016;48(5):570-575 | RCT, double-blind, placebo-controlled; 75 healthy men aged 45–55; Kolkata | 250 mg twice daily, PrimaVie, 90 days | Total testosterone ≈ +20%, free testosterone ≈ +19% vs placebo; DHEAS increase reported | No symptom endpoints; LH/FSH reports differ across secondary sources; funding not verified; product from Natreon | PMID 26395129 | B |
| T3 | Keller JL, Housh TJ, Hill EC, Smith CM, Schmidt RJ, Johnson GO. The effects of Shilajit supplementation on fatigue-induced decreases in muscular strength and serum hydroxyproline levels. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2019;16:3 | RCT; 63 men randomized (21 per arm); 8 weeks | 250 or 500 mg/day, PrimaVie | Less fatigue-induced strength decline at 500 mg in the upper-half subgroup (8.9% vs 17.0% at 250 mg and 16.0% placebo); 250 mg ≈ placebo | Significant results in subgroups split by baseline level; funding not verified | PMID 30728074 · DOI | A |
| T4 | Neltner TJ, et al. Effects of 8 weeks of shilajit supplementation on serum pro-c1α1, a biomarker of type 1 collagen synthesis: a randomized control trial. J Diet Suppl. 2022 (author list to confirm) | Double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group RCT; recreationally trained young men; 8 weeks; sample size not verified | 500 or 1,000 mg/day | Serum pro-c1α1 rose ≈94% and ≈165% vs ≈16% with placebo (trade press) | Biomarker, not a clinical outcome; no adverse events reported (per trade press) | DOI | B |
| T5 | 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 | RCT, 3 arms; 60 postmenopausal women with osteopenia; 48 weeks | Placebo, 250 or 500 mg/day PrimaVie | Authors report dose-dependent preservation of bone density with lower bone-turnover, oxidative and inflammatory markers | Surrogate endpoint; no fracture data seen; funding not verified | DOI | B |
| T6 | Mosavi et al. Effects of oral Shilajit tablets on sexual function and sexual quality of life among reproductive-aged women: a triple-blind randomized clinical trial. Tradit Med Res. 2023;8(11):66 (full author list to confirm) | Triple-blind, placebo-controlled RCT; 48 randomized, 43 completed; Iran | 200 mg twice daily, 60 days | Sexual-function scores reported improved; sexual quality-of-life result described inconsistently in secondary sources | Small, self-reported; funding not verified | IRCT record | A (registry); B (results) |
| T7 | Sadeghi SMH, Hosseini Khameneh SM, Khodadoost M, Hosseini Kasnavieh SM, Kamalinejad M, Gachkar L, Rampp T, Pasalar M. Efficacy of momiai in tibia fracture repair: a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled clinical trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2020;26(6):521-528 | RCT; 160 adults (80 per arm) aged 18–60 with tibial shaft fracture scheduled for surgery | Two 500 mg capsules vs wheat-flour placebo, 28 days (daily frequency to confirm) | Primary outcome was healing time and time to union; abstract concludes shorter healing time | Persian-medicine preparation (not necessarily comparable to other products); funding not verified | DOI | A |
| T8 | Emami K, Jahani A, Rakhshandeh H, et al. Non-operative management of distal radius fractures by mumiaee: a randomized clinical trial. Avicenna J Phytomed. Year and volume to confirm (epub ahead of print) | Placebo-controlled RCT; 44 patients with acute distal radius fractures; Mashhad, Iran | 250 mg mumiaee + 250 mg Avicel daily vs 500 mg Avicel | At 6 weeks: better range of motion, grip strength and questionnaire scores; no significant radiological differences; shorter union time reported | Authors cite small sample and limited fracture types | Journal page | A |
| T9 | 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. NCT02762032 | Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled; healthy women aged 30–65; 14 weeks; sample size not verified | PrimaVie, two dose levels (higher dose described as 250 mg twice daily) | Higher dose improved skin perfusion vs baseline and placebo; gene-expression changes; no adverse effects reported in this period | Physiological and gene-expression endpoints, not clinical ones; study listed as a Natreon-linked trial | PMID 31161927 · DOI · Registry | A |
Shilajit Research Papers: Uncontrolled and Observational Human Studies
I found no cohort, case-control or cross-sectional studies of shilajit users, and no verifiable case reports of harm. Two uncontrolled human studies are listed here.
| ID | Citation | Design and population | Dose / form | Reported outcomes | Limitations; funding | Links | Ver. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T2 | Biswas TK, Pandit S, Mondal S, Biswas SK, Jana U, Ghosh T, Tripathi PC, Debnath PK, Auddy RG, Auddy B. Clinical evaluation of spermatogenic activity of processed Shilajit in oligospermia. Andrologia. 2010;42(1):48-56 | Uncontrolled clinical study as far as the abstract shows; 60 screened, 35 oligospermic men enrolled; 28 completers per secondary sources | 100 mg processed shilajit twice daily, 90 days | Reported improvements in sperm count (≈+61%), motility (≈+12–17%) and testosterone (≈+23%) | No control group; no pregnancy outcomes seen; funding not verified | PMID 20078516 | A (abstract); B (figures) |
| T10 | Das A, Datta S, Rhea B, Sinha M, Veeraragavan M, Gordillo G, Roy S. The human skeletal muscle transcriptome in response to oral shilajit supplementation. J Med Food. 2016;19(7):701-709. NCT02026414 | Open-label longitudinal study; 16 overweight/class I obese adults aged 21–70; 8 weeks, then 4 weeks with exercise | 250 mg twice daily, PrimaVie | Upregulated extracellular-matrix and collagen genes; no changes in glucose or lipids reported | Small, no control arm; partially funded by Natreon (per trade press) | PMID 27414521 · DOI · Registry | A |
Pharmacokinetic Studies
I found no human pharmacokinetic study of shilajit or its constituents (fulvic acid, dibenzo-α-pyrones). Claims about absorption timing or tissue distribution on commercial sites had no traceable source, and I haven’t used them. The one item that surfaced is a rodent drug-formulation study using shilajit-derived fulvic and humic acids with carbamazepine (see the next-but-one section). It concerns the drug’s bioavailability, not shilajit’s.
Safety and Toxicology Research
Human safety data come only from trial reports of adverse events. They are limited to short durations (up to 48 weeks in the longest trial I found) and are not designed to detect rare effects.
| ID | Citation | Type | Findings relevant to safety | Limitations | Links | Ver. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X1 | Evaluation of safety profile of black shilajit after 91 days repeated administration in rats. Authors, journal and year to confirm | Rodent study (mice for acute toxicity, Wistar rats for 91 days) | Designed to assess longer-term safety of black shilajit, including metal analysis | Results not verified here; rodent data | PMC3609271 | A (abstract) |
| X2 | Rizun N, Stanković V, Bradić J, Anđić M, Lađarević J, Jakovljević V, Zahorodnia S, Janković N. Biogeochemical evaluation of Shilajit: testosterone-modulating effects, in vivo toxicity and lipid profile analysis. Pharmaceuticals. 2026 | Rodent acute oral toxicity plus antioxidant assays | No deaths or clinical toxicity over 14 days (LD50 > 2,000 mg/kg); changes in lipid and testosterone profiles seen | Single acute exposure; authors say it does not exclude tissue effects and call for long-term studies | DOI | A |
| X3 | Quantifying thallium in Shilajit and shilajit-based supplements (full title and authors to confirm). BMC Chemistry. 2025 | Laboratory contaminant analysis | Measured thallium in shilajit and commercial supplements from various regions; authors flag a consumer-safety concern | Analytical study; no human exposure data | DOI | A (open-access record) |
| X4 | Aldakheel RK, et al. Rapid determination and quantification of nutritional and poisonous metals in vastly consumed Ayurvedic herbal medicine (Rejuvenator Shilajit)… Biol Trace Elem Res (year to confirm) | Laboratory elemental analysis (LIBS, ICP, EDX) of Indian and Pakistani shilajit | Compares nutritional elements and heavy-metal contamination between two sources | Few samples; analytical only | Record | A |
Also see S2 (Hussain and Saeed, 2024) and S1 (which notes possible chemotherapy interactions in preclinical data).
Mechanistic, Laboratory and Preclinical Studies
These show what shilajit components can do in cells, tissues or animals. They are not evidence of human benefit.
| ID | Citation | Type | What it shows | Links | Ver. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | T9 and T10 above (Das et al., 2019 and 2016) | Human mechanistic endpoints | Gene-expression and perfusion changes in small human groups | See above | A |
| M2 | Chemical characterization of crude shilajit from three geographical sites (FTIR, GC-MS, ICP-MS, UV-Vis, HPLC). The Natural Products Journal; authors and year to confirm | Laboratory chemistry | Found humic acid, fulvic acid, dibenzo-α-pyrones and other constituents, with site variation | Record | A (abstract) |
| M3 | Shilajit-derived fulvic and humic acid complexes with carbamazepine. PMC4210272; authors, journal and year to confirm | Rodent drug-formulation study | Explores complexation to improve a drug’s properties; not a test of shilajit as a supplement | PMC4210272 | A (abstract) |
| M4 | The nine preclinical studies in S1; the rodent work in X2 | Animal and cell studies | Dose-dependent effects in lab models | See S1, X2 | A |
This preclinical section is deliberately short. I listed only items I could verify, and the animal literature is larger than what appears here.
Shilajit PubMed Studies at a Glance
| ID | Year | Design | Population | Dose / form | Evidence type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T2 | 2010 | Uncontrolled | 35 enrolled men with oligospermia | 100 mg twice daily, processed | Human, uncontrolled |
| T10 | 2016 | Open-label longitudinal | 16 overweight/obese adults | 250 mg twice daily | Human, mechanistic |
| T1 | 2016 | RCT | 75 healthy men, 45–55 | 250 mg twice daily | Human RCT |
| T9 | 2019 | RCT | Healthy women, 30–65 (n not verified) | Two doses, up to 250 mg twice daily | Human RCT, physiological endpoints |
| T3 | 2019 | RCT | 63 active men | 250 or 500 mg/day | Human RCT |
| T7 | 2020 | RCT | 160 adults with tibial fracture | Two 500 mg capsules, 28 days | Human RCT |
| T4 | 2022 | RCT | Trained young men (n not verified) | 500 or 1,000 mg/day | Human RCT, biomarker |
| T5 | 2022 | RCT | 60 postmenopausal women with osteopenia | 250 or 500 mg/day | Human RCT |
| T6 | 2023 | RCT | 48 randomized women (43 completed) | 200 mg twice daily | Human RCT |
| T8 | to confirm | RCT | 44 patients with wrist fractures | 250 mg/day | Human RCT |
| S1 | 2026 | Systematic review | 9 preclinical studies | n/a | Preclinical review |
| S2 | 2024 | Review (per secondary sources) | Composition and metals | n/a | Laboratory review |
| X2 | 2026 | Rodent toxicity | Rodents | Single acute dose | Animal |
Leads I Could Not Verify
These appeared in reference lists or on web pages but I could not confirm the details. Do not cite them until you have located the originals.
- Sharma et al., 2003, “Shilajit: evaluation of its effects on blood chemistry of normal human subjects.” A secondary summary gives 2,000 mg/day of processed shilajit versus placebo for 45 days (20 vs 10 subjects). I could not confirm the journal details or findings.
- A 12-week multi-ingredient trial of chromium, Phyllanthus emblica and shilajit. It would not isolate the effect of shilajit, and I did not find a verifiable record.
- “Heavy metals and microbial contaminants in commercial shilajit products: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” The title appears only on SEO-style sites, with no traceable source.
- A “Systematic Review of Shilajit: Clinical Efficacy and Safety” on a journal website, and a reported “Ali 2024” review. Their listed trial titles looked generic, so I have not relied on them.
- Kamgar, 2023, Crit Rev Anal Chem (PMID 38133965). I saw the ID but not the title.
- Claims of human trials in cognition, chronic fatigue or altitude illness. I found no verifiable randomized trial in those areas.
Using the Shilajit Evidence Library Responsibly
A bibliography shows what exists, not what works. Before relying on any entry, check four things:
- Study type: a randomized trial, an uncontrolled study, or a lab or animal study.
- Replication: whether independent groups found the same result.
- Outcome: a lab or biomarker value versus something that matters in daily life, such as fractures or pregnancy.
- Product match: whether the extract and dose resemble the one tested.
Shilajit composition varies by source and processing, and contamination has been documented in some products (see S2, X3, X4). Talk to a clinician before using any supplement, especially with a medical condition, pregnancy, breastfeeding, or regular medication. This page is educational and not medical advice.
For general information only. Talk to your doctor before starting any supplement.
