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The ayurvedic medical traditionnever ceases to amaze me. It isrich in so many fascinating natural

remedies, which have been time-test-ed over thousands of years.Furthermore, quite a few ayurvedicremedies have also been the subjectof modern scientific research whichnot only validate traditional use, butsometimes even provide evidence ofnew applications to human health.Such is the case with shilajit.

What is Shilajit?Secreted from sedimentary rocks(largely in the Himalayas) shilajit is apale-brown to blackish-brown exudate,composed of rock humus, rock miner-als and organic substances that havebeen compressed by layers of rockmixed with marine organisms andmicrobial metabolites.1 Said to carrythe healing power of these greatmountains,2 shilajit is an importantremedy of the ayurvedic MateriaMedica and has been used for over3,000 years as a rejuvenator and adap-

togen in a variety of conditions.Interestingly, the Sanskrit meaning ofshilajit is “Conqueror of mountain anddestroyer of weakness.”3 Among itsmany applications, shilajit has beenused for the management of malereproductive disorders.4,5 Furthermore,shilajit has an extensive history of usein ayurvedic medicine as an aphrodisi-ac,6-10 and its safety has been well doc-umented based on animal and humanstudies.11 This article will review severalof the evidence-based effects of shila-jit, including boosting testosterone,improving sperm parameters, promot-ing cardiovascular health (whichincludes nitric oxide boosting),increasing energy production andphysical activity, activating collagenproduction, and providing antioxidantprotection against free radicals.

Shilajit for TestosteroneGiven its historical use as an aphrodisi-ac, it is not a big surprise that twomodern studies have demonstratedthat shilajit has successfully increased

testosterone levels in two differentmale populations. These studies havealso demonstrated ancillary benefitsassociated with shilajit supplementa-tion.

The first study,12 which took placeover a period of 90 days, examinedthe effects of 100 mg shilajit (asPrimaVie purified shilajit, Natreon)twice daily in 28 infertile male patientswith oligospermia (a condition withlow sperm concentration). This studytested serum levels of testosterone,follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), andmalondialdehyde (MDA). In men, FSHhelps control the production of sperm.MDA is a marker for oxidative stress.The results of this study showed thatsupplementation with shilajit signifi-cantly increased serum testosterone by23.5 percent (P < 0.001), increasedFSH by 9.4 percent (P < 0.05), anddecreased MDA in semen by 18.7 per-cent. In addition, there was significant(P < 0.001) improvement in spermparameters, including 37.6 percentincrease in sperm mobility, 61.4 per-

By Gene Bruno, MS, MHS, RH(AHG)— Huntington College of Health Sciences

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Shilajit:

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cent increase in total sperm count,12.4-17.4 percent increase in motility.Liver and kidney tests also verified thesafety of supplementation of PrimaVieshilajit.

The second study13 also took placeover 90 days, and was randomized,double-blind, and placebo-controlled.In this case, 98 healthy male volun-teers (45-55 years) participated, andtook 250 mg/twice of PrimaVie shilajitdaily, or placebo. Total and freetestosterones, luteinizing hormone(LH), FSH, and DHEA (as DHEAs) weremeasured on days 0 (baseline), 30, 60and 90. In men, LH stimulates the pro-duction of testosterone and DHEA canbe converted to testosterones in thebody. Results showed that the shilajittreated group experienced an increaseof testosterone levels on days 30 (6.82percent), 60 (3.09 percent) and 90(20.45 percent, P<0.05) compared tobaseline. By contrast, there weredecreases in testosterone levels in theplacebo group (p<0.05). Testosteronelevels in the shilajit group were signifi-

cantly better those of the placebogroup at day 90 (P<0.05). Levels offree testosterone in the shilajit groupsignificantly increased by 19.14 per-cent (p<0.05), which was significantlyhigher than the placebo group(P<0.05). In addition, FSH levels signif-icantly increased (p<0.004) in the shi-lajit group, which was significantly bet-ter than the placebo group on day 90.Also, DHEAs increased by 31.35 per-cent on day 90 in the shilajit group,which was significantly higher thanbaseline or the placebo group(p<0.05).

Despite the fact that the two studiessummarized above were conducted onoligospermic and healthy male popu-lations using 200 mg and 500 mg shili-jit daily, the increase in T levels wasmarkedly similar: 23.5 percent and20.45 percent, respectively. This simi-larity suggests the potential for agreater likelihood of efficacy in differ-ent populations.

Shilajit for Cardiovascular HealthThe endothelium(inner lining) ofblood vessels usesnitric oxide (NO)—acompound pro-duced naturally inthe body—to signalthe surroundingsmooth muscle torelax, resulting invasodilation (thewidening of bloodvessels), whichincreases bloodflow. This processhas a profoundeffect on your car-diovascular health,sexual health, phys-ical performanceand so much more.This is significant tothe discussion ofshilajit, based uponthe following study.

To examine itseffect in modifyingcardiovascular risk,a 12-week, prospec-tive, randomized,double blind, place-bo-controlled trial14

was conducted with40 type-2 diabeticpatients (aged 18-75 years) who were

treated with 250 mg PrimaVie shilajit,twice daily, or placebo (n=20; 16 menand four women in shilajit group and14 men and six women in placebogroup), and were asked to review forfollow-up visits at four weeks, eightand 12 weeks of therapy. The resultsdemonstrated quite a few cardiovascu-lar benefits associated with shilajit.One of these was about a 30 percentincrease in NO levels (P<0.001). Otherbenefits included a significant reduc-tion in endothelial dysfunction (poorfunctioning of the inner lining of bloodvessels) as measured by reflectionindex (RI) (P<0.001), a significantincrease in subendocardial viabilityratio, which is an indicator of heartworkload and perfusion (O2 supply vs.demand) (P<0.05), and a significantincrease in cardiac output. There werealso significant increases in NO, glu-tathione, a powerful antioxidant(P<0.05), and a significant decrease inhigh sensitivity C-reactive protein, amarker for inflammation (P<0.001).Furthermore, compared to placebo,treatment with shilajit showed a signifi-cant:

• Reduction in levels of total choles-terol (P<0.001),

• Reduction in levels of LDL-choles-terol (P<0.01),

• Reduction in levels of triglycerides(P<0.01),

• Reduction in levels of VLDL-cho-lesterol (P<0.01),

• Reduction in levels of glycosylatedhemoglobin A1c (P<0.001),

• Increase in levels of HDL-C levels(P<0.01).

Once again, treatment with PrimaVieshilajit was well tolerated, and therewere no serious adverse eventsrecorded in the study.

Shilajit for Energy and PhysicalActivityForty-eight healthy volunteers, includ-ing recreational athletes and sportspersons, participated in a randomized,placebo controlled, double blind,cross-over, clinical trial15 to examinethe effect of a placebo or 250 mgPrimaVie shilajit, twice daily, onimproving endurance capacity. Theresults showed that there was about anine to 13 percent increase in exercisetime in the shilajit groups (P= 0.0028),while there were no significantchanges in exercise time in the place-bo group. This study also measuredmetabolic equivalents (METs). METs

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are a unit used to estimate the amountof oxygen used by the body duringphysical activity. The harder the bodyworks during the activity, the moreoxygen is consumed and the higherthe MET level. In the study, there wasa significant increase in the METsvalue after three weeks of shilajit treat-ment in comparison to placebo treat-ment at same time points. Researchersconcluded that the increase in theMETs explains the increase in the exercise time resulting from supple-mentation with shilajit. No adversereactions were reported with thePrimaVie shilajit.

In another study,16 six normal humanvolunteers received 200 mg ofPrimaVie shilajit, and then engaged inaerobic exercise. The subjects contin-ued taking shilajit for 15 days, atwhich point they again engaged inaerobic exercise. The purpose was todetermine if shilajit could improve bio-chemical indicators of energy produc-tion. The results showed a significantimprovement in energy from supple-mentation with shilajit. Specifically,levels of ATP (the body’s “energy cur-rency”) increased about 14 percent.Likewise, the level of fitness alsoincreased about 15 percent—whichwas impressive since the subjects inthe study were not sports trained indi-viduals. Another interesting changewas that shilajit normalized the coen-zyme Q10 levels in whole blood andreduced the uric acid levels, demon-strating efficacy as energy booster.

Shilajit for Up-regulation ofGenes Coding for Collagen andOther Extra Cellular Matrix(ECM) ProteinsIn the dietary supplement industry,discussions about collagen typicallytake place within the context of itsrole in healthy skin, as well as jointhealth. But as a connective tissue pro-tein, collagen also plays a vital role inthe maintenance and repair of othertissues, including muscle tissue.Shilajit’s influence on this particularrole was investigated in an open-label,longitudinal study17 including 16 over-weight and obese (BMI 30.0 to 34.9)Americans aged 21–70 who consumed250 mg of PrimaVie shilajit, twicedaily, for eight weeks, followed by anadditional four-week supplementationperiod combined with exercise. Thereason for studying overweight andobese subjects was that muscle per-

formance is often compromised in thisgroup. Blood samples and skeletalmuscle biopsies were taken at base-line, eight weeks of supplementationand additional four weeks of supple-mentation with added exercise. Real-Time PCR analysis of the biopsy sam-ples showed that shilajit up-regulatedgenes related to collagen– COL1A1,COL1A2, COL5A2, COL6A3,COL14A1, Fibrillin (FBN1), tenacin(TNXB), decorin (DCN), myoferlin(MYOF), elastin (ELN) and fibronectin(FN1) by seven to 80 times withoutexercise, but 20-1,300 times whencombined with exercise. This meansthat shilajit was able to up-regulatecollagen and other ECM genes signifi-cantly and synergistically when com-bined with exercise. The extracellularmatrix (ECM) is the non-cellular com-ponent present within all tissues andorgans, and provides not only essen-tial physical scaffolding for the cellularconstituents but also initiates crucialbiochemical and biomechanical cuesthat are required for tissue formation,differentiation and repair.

Shilajit for AntioxidantProtectionNowadays it seems that every othernutraceutical and its cousin toutsantioxidant properties—which canmake it hard to get too excited over anew antioxidant. However, when anutraceutical has demonstrated activi-ty against five different key types offree radicals, it is worth taking notice.Such is the case with shilajit. An ORAC5.0 test (the gold standard in antioxi-dant testing) was conducted onPrimaVie shilajit. The results showed

that PrimaVie provided antioxidantprotection against peroxyl radical,hydroxyl radical, superoxide anion, sin-glet oxygen and peroxynitrite. Thesefive types of free radicals contributetoward a broad range of oxidativedamage in the body, including nucleicacid/DNA damage, skin damage, col-lagen damage, and can contributetoward the development of certaincancers, hepatitis, and chronic inflam-mation and cardiovascular damage.18

Furthermore, PrimaVie had a totalORAC value of 9,855 mole/gram.19 Toput this into perspective, a twice dailydose of PrimaVie shilajit provides theprotective ORAC antioxidant equiva-lent of about one serving of vegeta-bles.20,21

ConclusionShilajit is an ayurvedic remedy in use for over 3,000 years as a rejuve-nator and adaptogen. Modernresearch has demonstrated thatPrimaVie shilajit is safe and, in dosesranging from 200-500 mg/day, hasseveral of the evidence-based effects,including boosting testosterone,improving sperm parameters, promot-ing cardiovascular health (whichincludes NO boosting), increasingenergy production and physical activi-ty, activating production of collagenand other extracellular matrix pro-teins, and providing antioxidant pro-tection against free radicals. VR

For a full list of references, visit www.vitaminretailer.com.

Gene Bruno, MS,MHS, the dean ofacademics forHuntington Collegeof Health Sciences,is a nutritionist,herbalist, writer

and educator. For more than 30years he has educated and trainednatural product retailers andhealth care professionals, hasresearched and formulated naturalproducts for dozens of dietarysupplement companies, and haswritten articles on nutrition, herbalmedicine, nutraceuticals and inte-grative health issues for trade,consumer magazines and peer-reviewed publications.

He can be reached atgbruno@hchs.edu.

SUPPLEMENTSCIENCE

44 VITAMIN RETAILER WWW.VITAMINRETAILER.COM ● APRIL 2017

Shilajit is

an ayurvedic

remedy in use

for over 3,000

years as a

rejuvenator and

adaptogen.

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