Hello, I listened from a guy (in a podcast)that tried thousands of supplements, saying without any financial benefit, that the best supplement for him, without doubt, is this SHILAJIT. Anyone on our community, with knowledge on this?
I wouldn’t just listen to any guy on a podcast with his personal testimonial. I look for good studies on the topic, ideally clinical studies with people (not just animals), and done by a respected academic institution with no financial ties to the industry.
I don’t waste my time with anybody’s testimonials, or even random herbs. Good data is what matters. I’ve not seen any good data on this supplement.
More on shilajit in this Life Extension article: Shilajit Boosts CoQ10 Efficiency
And Huberman looked at it for reproductive health apparently: source
Weak evidence in the literature.
Is anyone here taking Shilajit?
Counter point of view (hat tip @John_Hemming): Review on shilajit used in traditional Indian medicine 2011
Based on the earlier studies, the bioactivity of shilajit lacks substantial evidence. Nevertheless, further studies are imperative to overcome the lacuna in establishing the antioxidant property of shilajit and more specific assays are needed to vouch shilajit as an immuno-modulator which may be of use to establish its rasayana potential.
I personally would not touch this one, but maybe it is worth it for you. From my research, heavy metals and microbial contamination are common.
Yes, that’s a big risk.
I tend to trust Life Extension, they include “PrimaVie® Shilajit fulvic acid complex” in their “Enhanced” “Super” Ubiquinol product: Ubiquinol CoQ10 with Mitochondrial Support, 100mg, 60 softgels - Life Extension
“PrimaVie® Shilajit fulvic acid complex” is apparently: “a purified and standardized extract containing no less than 60% fulvic acid complex with high levels of combined dibenzo-α-pyrones and dibenzo-α-pyrone chromoproteins”, also used by Jarrow: https://jarrow.com/products/shilajit-fulvic-acid-complex-250-mg-60-veggie-caps
So if I ever use Shilajit, I guess I would use that low dose Q10 + shilajit combo by Life Extension.
Fulvic acid is interesting as it was identified to decrease aSyn and tau aggregation: Effects of pharmacological modulators of α-synuclein and tau aggregation and internalization 2020
Interestingly, it has been reported that fulvic acid can also lead to an increase in neurite outgrowth and, when used in combination with B complex vitamins may stabilize cognitive function in AD patients
Is this supplement worth a try?
The two studies, both mainly by the same authors, show inhibit tau aggregation, but more importantly, IMO: If I am reading the studies correctly, more importantly, it causes disassembly.
If it indeed causes disassembly, why aren’t researchers all over this?
Many supplement suppliers on Amazon supply supplements with high fulvic acid content.
I am not a big fan of Life Extention products. They are usually slightly over-priced and have smaller amounts per serving than other brands.
It’s a little older, but the pictures are pretty impressive:
“Fulvic acid inhibits aggregation and promotes disassembly of tau fibrils associated with Alzheimer’s disease”
Links to the full papers:
https://sci-hub.se/10.3233/jad-2011-110623
https://sci-hub.se/10.1038/s41598-020-69744-y
The 2011 paper is by a team from Chile while the 2020 paper comes from Germany. And since then nothing except this in 2023: Inhibitory Impacts of Fulvic Acid-Coated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles on the Amyloid Fibril Aggregations | IEEE Journals & Magazine | IEEE Xplore
So yes, not a lot of evidence for fulvic acid and Shilajit… And the heavy metal risk…
Consumer Reports selected the Youtheory Brand as their top pick. I got some and tried it a couple of times. Laxative effect. Too early to tell (and perhaps will never pick up on) any other changes, but decided to try it because of the potential neuro benefits.
Let us know how it goes. How much do you take?
Starting slow: one pill – 250 mg – once a day, a few times per week.
From 10 months ago, when I posted, I started. I take 1 per week, and in the beggining it was like 3 days a week. currently I’m doing a lot of changes in what I take, so I can not say what happened in blood tests. But aparently there is 2 side effects on me. First similar to ashwangandha give me the sensation that makes me sleep deeper. Sometimes I feel like a bear coming out of hibernation that slept for a week! Good feeling, but takes sometime to the return the frequency of someone awaken. The second side effect aparently makes me a little bit more horny. and this lasts some days.
maybe lowering the dose will help to avoid this laxative effect
From Consumerlab.com
Toxin in Shilajit
A recent study detected the toxin thallium in five out of six shilajit supplements. Get our take on this finding in the Quality Concerns section of our Shilajit Supplements Review, which includes our Top Pick among shilajit supplements.
