Does shilajit boost testosterone? What the one real study shows

If you search shilajit and testosterone, you will find confident headlines calling it a natural way to raise your levels. Almost all of that traces back to one study. It is a decent study for its size, but it is a single trial, it reported significance without effect sizes, and the product was a standardised commercial material. This page reads that study honestly, explains why one result is not proof, and covers the second testosterone number that gets quoted out of context.

The one real study

The study people mean is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in healthy men aged 45 to 55. They took purified shilajit twice a day for 90 days. At the end, the shilajit group showed statistically significant rises in total testosterone, free testosterone, and DHEAS compared with placebo. That double-blind, placebo-controlled design is the strongest single design in the whole shilajit literature, which is why it gets cited so heavily.

In healthy men aged 45 to 55, purified shilajit 250 mg twice daily for 90 days significantly raised total testosterone, free testosterone and DHEAS versus placebo in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. [Pandit 2016, Andrologia] Preliminary evidence

One detail is worth understanding. The trial reported that luteinising hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone, the pituitary signals that drive the testes, stayed stable while testosterone rose. The authors read that as the testes not being over-driven. It is a plausible reading, but it comes from the same single study and should be held with the same caution as everything else in it.

In the same trial, luteinising hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone stayed stable while testosterone rose, which the authors interpreted as the testes not being over-stimulated. [Pandit 2016, Andrologia] Preliminary evidence

Why one study is not proof

Three things keep this in the preliminary column rather than the proven one. First, it is a single trial, and no independent lab has replicated it. In supplement research, one positive study is a starting point, not a conclusion. Second, the published abstract reports that the rise was significant but does not give effect sizes or absolute values, so you cannot tell from it how large the change was or whether it would matter to how you feel. A sample size sometimes quoted as roughly 96 men is reported by secondary write-ups rather than stated on the record, so even the number of participants is not fully pinned down.

Third, the product was a purified, standardised commercial material, and independent reviewers, including a widely cited safety review, note how few well-controlled human studies exist for shilajit at all. Effects seen with one specific standardised extract do not automatically apply to whatever resin is in a random jar.

A safety and efficacy review of shilajit concluded there are relatively few well-controlled human studies, and that any benefits apply to purified, tested material rather than raw resin. [Stohs 2014, Phytother Res] Moderate evidence

The other testosterone number you will see

A second, older study in men with low sperm counts is often quoted for a testosterone rise of about 23 percent. That figure is real, but it comes from an open-label fertility study with no placebo and no control group, where the testosterone change was a secondary finding. Without a comparison group, a within-study before-and-after rise cannot be attributed to shilajit rather than to chance or lifestyle. It supports the direction of the first study loosely, but it is not independent confirmation.

In men with low sperm counts, processed shilajit 100 mg twice daily for 90 days raised serum testosterone by about 23.5 percent from baseline, but the study had no placebo or control group, so the rise cannot be attributed to shilajit with confidence. [Biswas 2010, Andrologia] Preliminary evidence

What the study does not tell you

Even taken at face value, the main trial was in men aged 45 to 55 with normal testosterone. It says nothing about younger men, and nothing about men with clinically low testosterone who might be considering shilajit instead of medical treatment. It also does not establish that shilajit works as well as, or is a substitute for, testosterone replacement therapy prescribed and monitored by a doctor. Government guidance reflects that caution.

The US Department of Defense Operation Supplement Safety states there is little reliable evidence to support claims that shilajit can enhance energy, vitality, stamina, endurance, and mental performance, with most research conducted in animals. [OPSS, US DoD] Insufficient evidence

What the research does not support

• Calling shilajit a proven testosterone booster. One small, likely manufacturer-linked trial with no published effect sizes is a preliminary signal, not settled science.
• Applying the result to young or eugonadal men, or to men with clinically low testosterone. Neither group was studied.
• Treating shilajit as an alternative to prescribed testosterone replacement therapy.
• Assuming the effect transfers to any shilajit product. The benefit was seen with one specific purified, standardised material.

The fair summary is this: there is a real but single, small, unreplicated trial suggesting a testosterone rise in middle-aged men, and that is genuinely more than most supplements have. It is also a long way from proof. If you want to try it, give it 8 to 12 weeks and, ideally, check your levels with bloodwork before and after so you are judging by data rather than headlines. For more on the underlying research see our science overview, for method see how to take shilajit, and to buy responsibly read the buying guide.

References

1. Pandit S, et al. Clinical evaluation of purified shilajit on testosterone levels in healthy volunteers. Andrologia. 2016;48(5):570-5. PMID 26395129
2. Biswas TK, et al. Clinical evaluation of spermatogenic activity of processed shilajit in oligospermia. Andrologia. 2010;42(1):48-56. PMID 20078516
3. Stohs SJ. Safety and efficacy of shilajit. Phytother Res. 2014;28(4):475-9. PMID 23733436
4. Operation Supplement Safety (US DoD). Shilajit as a dietary supplement ingredient. opss.org