# Does shilajit lower cholesterol?

Source: https://shilajit.uk/benefits/cholesterol/
Author: Sam Rowan · Updated 2026-10-16

**Short answer:** The evidence is weak and mixed. In a 2003 study of 30 healthy students, 2 g of shilajit a day for 45 days lowered total cholesterol from 145 to 125 mg/dL and triglycerides from 117 to 93 mg/dL. A 2016 US study found no change in blood lipids after 8 weeks at 500 mg a day.

**Evidence grade:** Weak evidence. Small, short or poorly controlled human studies, or animal and lab work only.

The idea that shilajit lowers cholesterol rests almost entirely on one study from 2003, in young people whose cholesterol was already normal. A later, better-documented US study that measured blood lipids found no change at all. A 2014 review listed "anti-dyslipidemic" among shilajit's properties (Stohs, 2014), but the human evidence behind that phrase is thin.

No study has tested shilajit in people with high cholesterol, or measured what really matters: heart attacks and strokes. We grade the evidence as weak.

## What did the 2003 cholesterol study find?

Blood fats fell in the shilajit group and stayed flat in the placebo group, but the analysis has a weakness. Thirty medical students aged 16 to 30 at the National Institute of Ayurveda in Jaipur took part (Sharma et al., 2003). Twenty took 2 g a day of purified shilajit as four 500 mg capsules for 45 days; ten took sugar capsules. The paper describes it as a double-blind placebo study. The shilajit was purified in-house by an Ayurvedic physician and contained 6.61% fulvic acid.

The full paper gives the figures (mmol/L conversions are ours):

| Measure | Shilajit: before | Shilajit: after 45 days | Placebo: before | Placebo: after |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Total cholesterol | 145.3 mg/dL (3.8 mmol/L) | 125.1 mg/dL (3.2 mmol/L) | 142.9 mg/dL | 142.3 mg/dL |
| Triglycerides | 116.9 mg/dL (1.3 mmol/L) | 92.7 mg/dL (1.0 mmol/L) | 114.1 mg/dL | 115.6 mg/dL |
| LDL ("bad") cholesterol | 81.8 mg/dL (2.1 mmol/L) | 63.3 mg/dL (1.6 mmol/L) | 78.6 mg/dL | 77.8 mg/dL |
| HDL ("good") cholesterol | 41.2 mg/dL (1.07 mmol/L) | 43.6 mg/dL (1.13 mmol/L) | 41.6 mg/dL | 41.4 mg/dL |

Blood pressure, weight, blood sugar, liver and kidney tests didn't change. Antioxidant markers (SOD, vitamins C and E) rose.

## Why is that study not enough?

Several reasons, and together they explain the weak grade:

- **The statistics compared before and after within each group**, not the shilajit group against the placebo group. That is a less reliable test, although the placebo numbers barely moved.
- **The groups were small and unequal**: 20 against 10.
- **Everyone had normal cholesterol to begin with.** A total of 3.8 mmol/L is already low. Whether shilajit does anything for people with high cholesterol is untested.
- **The dose was high.** 2 g a day is four to eight times what recent trials have used.
- **It has never been repeated.**

This study is sometimes described as having no placebo group. The full text shows it did have one, of 10 people, even though the statistics didn't make full use of it.

## Did any other study measure cholesterol?

Yes, and it found nothing. In a US study of overweight and mildly obese adults, 250 mg of a standardised extract twice a day for eight weeks, followed by four weeks with added exercise, produced no change in the lipid profile or blood glucose (Das et al., 2016). This used a quarter of the 2003 dose, and the participants were very different, so the two studies aren't directly comparable. But it means the only well-documented modern measurement is negative.

A 2025 trial in adults with signs of metabolic syndrome reported some improvements in blood lipids with a supplement containing chromium, amla fruit extract and shilajit during a diet and exercise programme (Martinez et al., 2025). The shilajit dose was only 6 or 12 mg, and the other ingredients make it impossible to credit shilajit with anything. It was funded by an ingredient supplier.

## What do animal studies show?

In rats fed a high-fat diet for 12 weeks to give them fatty liver, two weeks of shilajit at 150 or 250 mg per kilo lowered triglycerides, total cholesterol and LDL, raised HDL, and reduced liver fat (Ghezelbash et al., 2020). That is consistent with the 2003 human findings, but rat doses per kilo are far above anything people take.

## What should you do about high cholesterol?

High cholesterol usually causes no symptoms, and the NHS notes you can only find out from a blood test. If yours is high, diet, exercise, stopping smoking and, for some people, medicines such as statins have strong evidence behind them. Shilajit doesn't.

If you take cholesterol-lowering or other heart medicines, talk to your pharmacist before adding shilajit, as interactions haven't been studied (see [drug interactions](/safety/drug-interactions/)). For safe use more generally, see [side effects](/safety/side-effects/) and the [dosage guide](/how-to-take-shilajit/dosage/). The [benefits overview](/benefits/) compares every claim.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can I take shilajit instead of statins?

No. Shilajit has never been tested in people with high cholesterol, and there is no evidence it reduces heart attacks or strokes. Don't stop prescribed medicine without talking to your GP.

### What dose of shilajit was used in the cholesterol study?

2 g a day, given as four 500 mg capsules, for 45 days (Sharma et al., 2003). That is four to eight times the daily dose used in most recent trials.

### Does shilajit raise HDL (good) cholesterol?

In the 2003 study, HDL rose slightly, from 41.2 to 43.6 mg/dL (about 1.07 to 1.13 mmol/L). No other human study has confirmed it.

## References

1. [Sharma P et al. Shilajit: evaluation of its effects on blood chemistry of normal human subjects. Anc Sci Life. 2003;23(2):114-9.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22557121/) Figures from the full text on PubMed Central.
2. [Das A et al. The Human Skeletal Muscle Transcriptome in Response to Oral Shilajit Supplementation. J Med Food. 2016;19(7):701-9.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27414521/)
3. [Martinez V et al. Effects of 12 Weeks of Chromium, Phyllanthus emblica Fruit Extract, and Shilajit Supplementation on Markers of Cardiometabolic Health, Fitness, and Weight Loss in Men and Women with Risk Factors to Metabolic Syndrome Initiating an Exercise and Diet Intervention. Nutrients. 2025;17(12):2042.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40573153/) Funded by Kerry Inc.
4. [Ghezelbash B et al. Hepatoprotective effects of Shilajit on high fat-diet induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in rats. Horm Mol Biol Clin Investig. 2020;41(1).](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32083445/)
5. [Stohs SJ. Safety and efficacy of shilajit (mumie, moomiyo). Phytother Res. 2014;28(4):475-9.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23733436/)
6. [NHS. High cholesterol.](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/high-cholesterol/)