Shilajit Resin or Capsules: Which Shilajit is More Legit?
Shilajit has recently become one of the world’s most sought-after adaptogenic supplements, and for good reason.
The benefits of Shilajit are numerous. Shilajit resin has been used for thousands of years in India to boost energy, mood, focus, and mental sharpness. It’s now recognized by countless scientific studies to support cellular energy production, fertility, circulation, hormones, brain function, heart health, and even dopamine levels.
In fact, many are turning to Shilajit as a vegan, pesticide-free alternative to collagen because it can naturally increase your body’s production of this vital protein and thus support healthy bones, skin, and joints.
More recently, as modern science has uncovered more sophisticated ways of producing Shilajit, standardized extracts have also become available. Overall, these Shilajit products tend to have a much higher degree of safety and efficacy. They typically come in powder or capsule form instead of the thick, tar-like substance that many associate with Shilajit.
Due to its popularity, there are hundreds of different products available that are made in a variety of different ways, but you have to be careful when shopping around.
Because the market is flooded with so many kinds of Shilajit products, it can be challenging to know which ones are safe and effective and which are not. Unfortunately, many Shilajit supplements on the market may have high levels of heavy metals, bacteria, and other contaminants because they have not been adequately refined or tested.
This is especially true of Shilajit resin products, as they are often subject to less lab testing and can therefore have a less-than-optimal safety profile. It takes relatively little effort to produce Shilajit resin, and lots of unscrupulous companies sell it cheap online. Though this is not true of all Shilajit resin supplements, these issues are far more common than with the more highly standardized Shilajit capsule and powder products sold by more reputable companies that are much pickier about their sourcing and do more testing.
One of the higher-end companies that sells properly tested Shilajit in capsule form is CHOQ. We recommend their Shilajit because it has clinical research behind it and is tested by ISO-certified labs for contaminants as well as active compounds like fulvic acids (much more on why we chose this company later).
So, are you ready to learn all there is to know about Shilajit resins, powders, and capsules? In this article, we’ll first discuss what Shilajit is and how it works, then we will outline the differences between the different kinds.
What is Shilajit? What can it do for you? What are the pros and cons of each kind of Shilajit? If you’d like to know the answers to these questions, then keep reading.
What is Shilajit and which nutrients does it contain?
Similar to an herb, but technically an ‘herbomineral’, Shilajit is a combination of minerals and broken down plants. It’s an ancient, nutrient-rich, dark black substance harvested from inside mountains, often the Himalayas.
A wide variety of systems in the body experience the benefits of shilajit. It’s been used by Ayurvedic doctors for millennia to help combat poor focus, fatigue, poor digestion, and fertility issues. Indian Sherpas–whose jobs are extremely physically demanding–have also relied on Shilajit for generations to keep them going and support them during grueling low-oxygen treks up and down steep mountains.
In fact, Shilajit is considered such a powerful energy and endurance booster that it’s often referred to in India as the “conqueror of mountains and destroyer of weakness”.
Some shilajit benefits include its richness in a variety of essential trace minerals like zinc, copper, silver, and iron. In addition to being a source of these critical minerals, Shilajit also contains key phytochemicals like fulvic acid, humic acid, urolithins, and many other naturally occurring nutrients and phytochemicals. Fulvic and humic acid in particular benefit whole body health and wellness including support for natural detox, nutrient absorption, and GI function.
Shilajit and Fulvic Acid
Fulvic acid is one of the most important components of Shilajit. It’s formed when organic matter naturally decomposes and is used by farmers to boost their soil quality and make their plants healthier.
The acid naturally occurs in humus, which is an essential component of all soils that results from the decomposition of plants by probiotic soil organisms like bacteria. After leaves, twigs, and other plant parts are broken down by these beneficial microbes, they leave humus behind so that it can supply minerals and nitrogen, which can then support the growth of new plants.
The fulvic acid in humus enhances the absorption of these nutrients by all kinds of vegetation. And, just as it is extremely beneficial to plants, it also supports human health in a variety of ways.
Here are some of the health-promoting properties:
- Enhances the absorption of minerals and other nutrients
- Reduces cellular damage due to free radicals
- Is anti-inflammatory
- Supports detoxification and immunity by increasing glutathione, the body’s master antioxidant
Given that many take Shilajit as an anti-aging and vitality booster, it makes sense that it would be a powerful antioxidant, as free radical damage can accelerate the negative effects of aging. Over time, your body’s natural production of antioxidants reduces, and so consuming antioxidant-rich foods and supplements is an excellent way to combat this age-related decline.
Shilajit, Urolithin A, and Cellular Energy Production
One of the reasons that Shilajit benefits energy levels is because it contains a rare compound called Urolithin A.
Urolithin A is a naturally occurring compound that increases your cells’ production of ATP by promoting the function of your mitochondria–tiny bacteria-like organelles that are a crucial part of the way your cells convert calories into energy. All the calories you consume as food, whether they’re from fat, carbohydrates, or protein, need to first be converted to ATP in order for your cells to use them.
Mitochondrial health is a big topic these days in medicine and nutrition. Just as antioxidant levels tend to drop with age, mitochondrial function also tends to decline, meaning that your body has a harder time converting food into energy, decreasing your metabolism. A wide variety of popular supplements, just as Nicotinamide Riboside, CoQ10, and Resveratrol, all support mitochondrial health.
Studies have shown that Urolithin A can reduce fatigue and also increase muscle strength. It’s also one of the main reasons that Shilajit has beneficial effects on the heart, as it can support energy production in heart cells. Anything that supports mitochondrial health supports heart health.
Given Shilajit’s legendary energy-boosting properties, it makes sense that it would contain something that has such a positive effect on your mitochondrial function. Although the benefits of Shilajit for energy, mood, and focus can’t be reduced to just Urolithin A, this special molecule certainly plays a central role.
Now that you know the basics of what Shilajit is and what it can do for you, let’s talk a little bit about how it’s made and the differences between Shilajit resin and Shilajit capsules.
How is Shilajit Resin Made?
After it’s harvested from within mountains, Shilajit is collected and then purified, typically using a process that involves water, heat, and a series of sieves or filters.
This is an ancient process that has been used for thousands of years. In fact, people all the way back in ancient India even knew that it had to be filtered and purified before it should be taken. After the liquid cools and most of the water has evaporated off, what’s left is a thick, black resin:
Shilajit, Mumijo with stones isolated on white background.
There’s one big problem with Shilajit resin, though: even after this basic filtration process, it can contain high levels of metals like lead, mercury, and arsenic. Although people in ancient India knew intuitively that it had to be purified, they of course did not have access to the modern lab techniques that are now used to assess Shilajit resin for dangerous contaminants by higher-end companies.
Depending on where the Shilajit is harvested, it can have different amounts of toxic metals in it. It’s therefore extremely important that any Shilajit product you buy has been tested by an independent ISO accredited laboratory who can use a technique called ‘mass spectrometry’ to analyze it for these dangerous metals and also check it for microbes such as mold, yeast, and bacteria.
In the United States, according to FDA law, supplements must be tested for these contaminants. The problem, though, is that the FDA does not require companies to demonstrate safety before their products are put on the market, and many companies unfortunately fly under the radar with either insufficient testing or even no testing at all.
In fact, in 2005, Health Canada (the Canadian Government’s version of the FDA) released a warning letter about a number of Shilajit resin products that were found with unacceptably high levels of heavy metals and banned Shilajit sales. Since then, Health Canada has begun allowing the sale of a limited number of Shilajit products that have undergone extremely thorough analysis and are thus deemed completely safe for human consumption.
Interestingly, the first of these products was not a Shilajit resin, but rather a powdered extract that’s typically sold in the form of a capsule.
How are Shilajit Capsules and Powders Made?
Some companies will, after the initial purification, take the resin and reduce it to a concentrated powder so that it can be encapsulated. Because Shilajit is a tar with a bitter taste, many people prefer not having to deal with breaking off a piece and then having to deal with the harsh flavor.
Because these Shilajit powders are technically extracts, they can also be significantly more potent than a pure resin. When an extract is made, it’s possible to eliminate some of the inert parts of Shilajit that don’t have any health benefits. A typical Shilajit capsule may contain a 4:1 extract, meaning that 4 grams of Shilajit were used to make just one gram of the powder. This enables you to take smaller amounts but also get better results.
In addition to Shilajit capsules and powders being more potent, convenient, and easier to take, they are typically used by larger companies who do more advanced testing on their products. As mentioned previously, the first product that Health Canada allowed to be sold in Canada following their Shilajit ban was a powdered product, not a resin.
Research-Based Shilajit
In some cases, companies will have clinical research done on their Shilajit. To date, the only Shilajit products that have been scientifically tested are ones that are sold as encapsulated powders.
For example, the Shilajit capsule product we recommend, CHOQ Shilajit, has 8 studies demonstrating its beneficial effects. These studies have shown that this Shilajit capsule product can increase collagen production by activating collagen-producing genes, support healthy circulation in the skin, support healthy fertility, promote healthy muscle growth and performance, reduce joint inflammation, and protect reproductive organs from damage due to toxins.
The most interesting study, however, was this one, in which men were given this Shilajit extract for 90 days and saw a dramatic increase in their testosterone levels. In fact, the average increase was 23.5% in just three months. The researchers also found that the participants’ DHEA levels increased. DHEA is the parent molecule that all hormones are built from, and so this Shilajit extract is also known to supply more of this essential building block.
Note that women can also take Shilajit without having to worry about it excessively raising their testosterone levels. This is because Shilajit is an adaptogen, and thus supports hormone balance by working with the individual’s unique body.
Which Shilajit is More Legit?
By now, it should be obvious. Although most Shilajit products come as a resin, it makes much more sense to take Shilajit as an extract in either capsule or powder form because these products are typically safer, more effective, more convenient, and have more scientific research behind them.
Out of the countless Shilajit supplements out there, CHOQ Shilajit is the best product we know of. It has the clinical research to back up its beneficial health effects, comes in a vegan cellulose capsule, is a concentrated 4:1 extract, and is extensively tested using ISO-certified labs to ensure safety and efficacy. It’s also non-GMO and soy-free.
CHOQ also makes their COAs available to the public, unlike most companies. A certificate of analysis (COA) is a document that comes from a reputable laboratory that outlines exactly which tests were performed, what the methods were, and precisely quantifies everything that was measured.
In addition to testing for heavy metals and microbes, CHOQ Shilajit also tests for multiple active compounds, something that is rarely seen with Shilajit resin products. This means that their Shilajit is not only tested for fulvic acid but also urolithins, which are the compounds we mentioned previously that are a large part of how Shilajit benefits your body’s natural energy levels.
No matter who you get your Shilajit supplements from, though, the most important thing to keep in mind is testing. Before you buy, see if the company has a link to their testing documentation (COA) before you commit to purchasing. If they don’t, then that’s a red flag. Testing should always be made available to customers, and any company that doesn’t provide documentation has something to hide.
In conclusion, Shilajit is arguably one of the most rapidly growing energy-boosting supplements on the market today. Many systems in the body experience the benefits of Shilajit, but it’s important that you do your research to ensure that you’re getting something that’s safe and effective. Out of the infinite selection of online products that make a variety of promises, Shilajit supplements are one of the few that actually deliver. So, if you’re looking to support your vitality naturally, it’s definitely worth looking into.
Additional Scientific Research on Shilajit:
Clinical evaluation of spermatogenic activity of processed Shilajit in oligospermia
The Human Skeletal Muscle Transcriptome in Response to Oral Shilajit Supplementation
Profertility effects of Shilajit on cadmium-induced infertility in male mice
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