Shilajit isn't interesting simply because it has been used traditionally. Researchers have also studied standardized Shilajit preparations in randomized, placebo-controlled human trials.
Here's a look at some of the research.
8-Week Human Study
Muscle Fatigue & Strength
In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, researchers evaluated Shilajit supplementation in recreationally active men over eight weeks and reported differences in fatigue-related strength outcomes in a subgroup of participants.
J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2019 · PMID 30728074
8-Week Human Study
Collagen Synthesis
In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial, 35 recreationally trained men took either 500 mg or 1,000 mg of Shilajit a day for eight weeks. Researchers reported increases in a blood marker of type 1 collagen synthesis in both dose groups, with no change in the placebo group — and the larger response at the higher dose.
J Diet Suppl, 2024 · PMID 36546868
90-Day Human Study
Male Hormone Research
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in healthy men ages 45–55 evaluated purified Shilajit over 90 days and reported differences in total testosterone, free testosterone, and DHEAS compared with placebo.
Andrologia, 2016 · PMID 26395129
48-Week Human Study
Healthy Aging & Bone Research
Researchers have also studied a standardized Shilajit extract in postmenopausal women with osteopenia over 48 weeks, reporting differences in measures related to bone mineral density compared with placebo.
Phytomedicine, 2022 · PMID 35933897
One detail worth stealing from that collagen trial: the dose mattered.
Both amounts raised the collagen marker. But 1,000 mg a day was the dose where a significantly larger share of participants reached what the researchers had defined in advance as a meaningful increase — 75% of them, against 30% on placebo. At 500 mg, the marker still went up, but that share didn't separate from placebo. It's also worth being straight about the other half of it: 1,000 mg was the highest amount the study tested, so it's the top of the studied range, not a proven ceiling.