Blood chemistry studies are usually carried out to determine imbalances in the body. Due to how easy it is to carry out and how cheap they can be, they are the go-to tests for understanding what is wrong with one’s body, quickly. A simple blood test can even tell us much about the body’s nutrient levels to spot deficiencies and address them.
The test can detect lipid, protein, and sugar levels, essential for ascertaining diseases like hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, kidney failure, and liver diseases. Since shilajit is known to help with a lot of ailments, a study on blood components and lipid profiles can tell us whether or not, consumption of shilajit helps.
A study titled “Shilajit: Evaluation of its Effects On Blood Chemistry Of Normal Human Subjects,” conducted by the Department of Biochemistry, SMS Medical College, in collaboration with the National Institute of Ayurveda, in Jaipur, India wanted to know the effects of shilajit towards blood components including lipid profile. The researchers observed no detrimental effects with regular shilajit use and noticed a reduction in triglyceride levels and low-density lipoprotein levels with an upregulated high-density lipoprotein levels suggest improvements to blood chemistry and lipid profiles. Vitamin C and SOD levels were increased, which indicate boosted immunity.
One key observation in their study is sugar and protein levels, the elevation of which means a problem with kidney and liver function. They noted normal levels in the many days of continued shilajit use, suggesting that the use of this healing agent is safe to essential organs.
A group of researchers from the Department of Surgery, Davis Heart and Lung Research Insititute in Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA, In collaboration with Natreon India’s Research and Development aimed to understand how shilajit can benefit obese individuals and give credence to the claim that shilajit can help build muscles. The study titled “The Human Skeletal Muscle Transcriptome in Response to Oral Shilajit Supplementation.” In their research, they analyze the blood of the participants to see if there are any apparent changes especially with components that are important towards muscle growth. The test had obese participants, and they tend to have higher circulating lipids in the blood; thus, it is imperative for the researchers to see if shilajit also had any effect on the blood chemistry levels.
They noted similar results with the study mentioned before. No discernable changes were observed for cholesterol levels, HDL, LDL, total cholesterol levels, and non-HDL components. No discernable changes in triglyceride levels were also detected in comparison to their baseline data.
Blood glucose levels remained low, and no muscle damage markers were observed, including myoglobin levels and CK.
All in all, the results of the studies suggest one thing; shilajit is well tolerated by everyone and would not cause any severe blood chemistry irregularities, instead promotes improvement to certain components. The results also agree with animal-based testing further adding evidence to the claim that shilajit is safe.
Although there is no human study on how safe shilajit is at very high dosages, an animal study with rats given with 5 grams of shilajit for 91 consecutive days found that it is safe for use even at those dosages, but benefits can be had for as little as 500mg shilajit up to 2500mg shilajit.