The Real Health Podcast

Shilajit has gone from an ancient Ayurvedic remedy to a biohacker favorite, but is it actually a "miracle molecule," or just well-marketed mountain resin? In this episode, Dr. Barrett Deubert breaks down what Shilajit really is, the role fulvic acid plays in mitochondrial energy production and detoxification, and what the research says about its effects on testosterone, fertility, brain health, and athletic recovery. He also covers the biggest risk with this supplement - quality and contamination - plus who should avoid it and how to dose it properly.
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Watch the episode on YouTube here!
  • (00:00) - Intro
  • (01:39) - What Exactly is Shilajit?
  • (03:27) - Mitochondrial Energy
  • (05:49) - Testosterone, Fertility & Hormones
  • (07:44) - Brain Health & Tau Proteins
  • (08:39) - Performance & Recovery
  • (10:31) - Quality Concerns
  • (11:21) - Who Should (and Shouldn't) Take It
  • (12:03) - Dosing Guidance & Closing Thoughts

DISCLAIMER
This content is strictly the opinion of Dr. Barrett Deubert and is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to replace medical advice or treatment from a physician. All viewers of this content are advised to consult their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding health questions and concerns. Neither Dr. Deubert nor the Real Health Co. takes responsibility for possible health consequences of any person or persons reading or following the information in this educational content. All audience members, especially those taking prescription or over-the-counter medications, should consult their physicians before beginning any nutrition, supplement, or lifestyle program.

Creators and Guests

Host
Dr. Barrett Deubert
The founder of The Real Health Co. and the host of The Real Health Podcast, Dr. Barrett is passionate about helping people find true and complete health in any stage of life!
Editor
Grant Crenshaw
Content Producer at the Real Health Co.

What is The Real Health Podcast?

On a mission to share practical solutions to improve your wellbeing, The Real Health Podcast will equip you with evidence-based recommendations essential to achieving a healthy lifestyle. Join Dr. Barrett Deubert as he shares his passion for educating, inspiring, and empowering individuals to achieve “real health for real people”. Breaking down health topics such as: immunity, stress, real food, natural living, and much more to provide you with actionable steps to improving your family’s health.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

I think one of the reasons why everyone's touting it as being such a miracle molecule is because of that fulvic acid, but primarily what it's doing with those minerals to improve mitochondrial function. We talk about all the time on this podcast, the mitochondria is the key to restoring cellular health and longevity, decreasing aging in the body. Welcome back to another episode of the Real Health Podcast. Today we're talking about an ancient, miraculous resin that's been used for hundreds of years and it's now making a modern comeback. A lot of biohackers, athletes are touting it as a modern miracle.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

When it comes to supplementing with it, it's incredible. The benefits they're talking about is amazing. If you're scrolling, you're probably seeing it as a supplement. Is it worth the money or is it marketing hype? That's really the question we're gonna answer today on an ancient miracle resin called Shilajeet.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

It's spelled C H C, or sorry, S H I L A G E E T, Shilajeet and it's something I take every morning and I want to help you understand a little bit more about it. And the question is should you take it? Is it something you should add into your arsenal? And is it worth in essence the money? When we look at what it is, shilajit isn't an herb, it's not a vitamin, it's not a mushroom.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

So in the ancient Himalayas there's a mineral rich resin that would just kind of slowly leach through mountainous rocks and they would collect the resin. And in that resin they noticed in the Himalayans that there was this power and potency to the consumption of it. And over centuries, plants have become compressed by pressure, geological pressure, we see something similar to it in volcanic ash called the zeolite. And you may have heard of zeolite before because it's used as a form of detoxification. And so you get this geometric, geological pressure coming out from mountainous caverns that then is kind of mixed with plants and microbial activity and it forms as a resin in essence.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

And when we look at this resin it has a ton of biological properties and it's been used in Ayurvedic medicine for over a couple thousand years. And its name, Shilajit, literally means conqueror of mountains and destroyer of weakness. Kind of an interesting title, gives you a good sense of how it's been so important to certain cultures for so many years. And so what's actually inside of it? When we look inside of this resin of Shilajit, it has 80 different trace minerals and that can be magnesium, zinc, iron, copper, selenium, magnesium, potassium, strontium, and I mean the list goes on.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

But it isn't just minerals. There's really what I primarily take it for is something called fulvic acid. So it's rich in fulvic acid. Now you may have heard of fulvic acid from certain companies that sell it for forms of detoxification support, there's a company called Cellcor that uses a lot of fulvic acids in their products. And Shilajit contains approximately a quarter of that resin is fulvic acid.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

Fulvic acid, it acts like a transporter so it's transporting nutrients in and eliminates toxins out of cells. And so it's bringing all of these rich minerals into your cells and helping eliminate compounds that your body isn't using anymore. And so this nutrient delivery and detoxification at the same time. That is what Shilajit at the core is doing to the body, particularly to yourselves. So I think one of the reasons why everyone's touting it as being such a miracle molecule is because of that fulvic acid.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

But primarily what it's doing with those minerals to improve mitochondrial function. We talk about all the time on this podcast, the mitochondria is the key to restoring cellular health and longevity, decreasing aging in the body. Shilajit is a form of accomplishing that, up regulating ATP production, making sure that the power plant of the cell, that mitochondria is efficiently working. And when mitochondria work better, there's better physical performance, there's better recovery, cognition, hormone production and better resilience. So instead of simply stimulating you like a caffeine well this is actually driving true cellular energy that a lot of people are needing today.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

You talk about things like NAD being beneficial and they are, but this could be just as powerful, just as potent for you. And I think a lot of people are really significantly deficient in minerals today. If you were to tell me some of the most important supplements anyone should be taking should be minerals and fat soluble vitamins. Think those two things could cover a ton of deficiencies. DAEK and a trace mineral blend.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

And Shilajit could be that for you. And I would say one of the biggest marketing claims that we're seeing a lot is does, especially for athletes and high performers, is Shilajit improve testosterone production and fertility outcomes. Actually And what does the research show? It's probably better than you would imagine being an ancient old resin that was found in the Himalayans, right? It's like well is there any evidence from it?

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

And several human studies found men taking purified Shilajit, and that's important, we'll talk about that at the end, but purified Shilajit for ninety days demonstrated increased total testosterone, increased free testosterone, increased DHEA, increased sperm count and increased sperm motility. And importantly, it's acting like a general mass steroid hormone improvement by taking this miracle molecule. And when we look at healthier hormone production, men vastly low in their hormones, particularly testosterone in today's society. And the deficiency of minerals is definitely playing a role. Particularly zinc is playing a massive role.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

So the benefits for healthy men may be a little bit smaller because their testosterone levels are usually already in a pretty optimal window. But I would say definitely as you get into your 30s and 40s this would be a great way to support and boost testosterone levels naturally. There's also some really interesting data when it comes to brain health because fulvic acid's been studied to help reduce abnormal tau protein aggregation. And I think this is massive for anyone that's concerned. We just had a brain workshop on Alzheimer's dementia and neurodegenerative conditions.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

So tau proteins are involved in neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's. And we're seeing fulvic acid, human evidence is still early, fulvic acid is showing a possible strategy at reduction of tau protein. So would it be something I would just take alone if I had neurodegenerative because sure I was concerned about it? No. We know brain health comes from nutrition, movement, sleep, chiropractic care, everything we talked at the brain workshop.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

But could this be supplemental? Absolutely. That's what supplements are for, to supplement an already established healthy routine. When we think about Shilajit it is a powerful mineral but particularly the fulvic acid component of that mineral resin is what's really creating some interesting changes in the brain. We see a benefit number three in athletic performance.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

So when we look at testosterone improvements, we look at brain performance. Now athletic performance improvements, athletes often report better recovery, less fatigue, increased endurance, improved training capacity, which I mean makes sense. The more your mitochondria can work efficiently, make more ATP, the better you recover, more load you can take on. And in essence, you can get into some gains because you take on more load. So, you know, again, we're seeing the benefits of Shilajit particularly from a reduced oxidative stress load post workout, which is a mechanism by which you're recovering faster.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

Oxative stress is a form of free radical formation post workout induced injury to your muscular system, improving that recovery window allows you to then take on more training load. And I think that's why a lot of athletes are taking it. There's some evidence that it shows to improve inflammation levels which would be oxytate stress and immune function, has antioxidant properties, it has mild anti inflammatory activity. And so it isn't necessarily immune boosting but it is immune modulating. And so I think with all of the potential benefits, would say if you're in your probably 30s or 40s, this would be something thereafter you should consider.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

You should consider looking at Shilajit as a early morning supplementation window where you're just really setting your body up for success, hydrating yourselves with energy for the day. When we look at the problems with Shilajit, the biggest issue is quality. All right, quality and quantity. One, quality. Shilajit is a mountainous resin that can be full of minerals but also heavy metals.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

So we just wanna make sure we're getting really high quality Shilajit that isn't lead, arsenic, full of mycotoxins and mold because that fulvic acid is a binder of mold toxins. So if it isn't purified, you may be actually taking on an increased toxic burden. So make sure you're looking for heavy metal testing, purified resin would be the name that you would look for, Even third party testing would be helpful. It's not just about buying a cheap one online. You don't know how it was processed.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

And so if you were looking at this as a possibility, it hype? Is it actually a miracle molecule? I really do think there's a lot of evidence suggesting it's a miracle molecule. But here's the truth to it. I've always encouraged mineral supplementation.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

I think minerals are a foundational supplement everyone should be taking. So it's just been something that's been a part of my routine that I haven't even thought about considering communicating because it's just been on autopilot. But if I were you and I'm not taking minerals, and I'm in my 30s, 40s thereafter, and I'm looking for all the benefits you talked about, better brain performance, better ATP production, better energy, better fertility outcomes, testosterone optimization, male and female. If you're looking for longevity and healthy aging, think it's something that you should absolutely consider, especially the cost on it. It's relatively cheap for what you're getting, getting a lot of bang for your buck.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

The people that should avoid it would be anyone with iron issues because it does have iron in it. Active gout because of uric acid metabolism. I would say pregnant or breastfeeding. I mean you're not trying to force detoxification, especially with fulvic acids which can really disrupt the mycotoxic burden in the body. Any kidney issues unless supervised.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

And that's why you want to always make sure you're working with your medical professional to determine whether or not this is beneficial for you. And remember that just taking more isn't necessarily better. Consistent dosing over the course of ninety days is usually when people are starting to see a benefit. Two fifty to five hundred milligrams is about the right dose. Taking that daily, every day, twelve weeks, let me know how you're doing on it.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

I'd love to hear reports on, hey, I've been taking it, this is the benefit that I've been seeing. Cause I do think in eight to twelve weeks you could see a pretty significant improvement in overall energy, brain health, performance recovery and sleep if you are truly deficient in those minerals. So I think there's some value there. As always, we're just trying to provide you with concepts that's going to help you in your health journey. Hope this has been value added for you.

Dr. Barrett Deubert:

Thanks for listening to another episode of the Real Health Podcast.