Shilajit for Fatigue
Shilajit earns a Weak Evidence (Tier C) rating for fatigue: a biologically plausible mechanism and a handful of small, mostly industry-funded studies exist, but the human evidence is too thin and too low in quality to show that it reliably reduces fatigue or boosts energy.
Why this grade7-layer evidence engine
The grade is held down by how little direct human evidence there is. Only one placebo-controlled randomized trial actually tests shilajit against fatigue (Keller 2019, PMID 30728074, n=63 recreationally active young men on PrimaVie 500 mg/day for 8 weeks), and even there the benefit appeared only in an upper-50th-percentile subgroup and measured retention of isometric muscle strength after a fatiguing protocol — not subjective fatigue, energy, or chronic fatigue. A 28-day open-label pilot (PMID 41613504, n=25, TruBlk resin) reported a large drop in Fatigue Severity Scale scores, but with no placebo or randomization, expectancy and regression-to-the-mean make that result uninterpretable.
The supporting signal also doesn't hold together. A 12-week combination RCT (PMID 40573153, n=109) included shilajit at only 6–12 mg — far below the 250–500 mg used in dedicated trials — and fatigue improved equally in every arm including placebo, attributable to the exercise-and-diet program rather than shilajit. A 2024 systematic review claimed 'significant potential' for chronic fatigue but is non-MEDLINE-indexed, reports no pooled effect size, and cannot anchor a conclusion. Industry concentration is high: the patented PrimaVie and TruBlk products drive nearly all positive findings, with essentially no independent replication.
Authorities are correspondingly reserved. Examine.com has not graded shilajit for fatigue, and NIH ODS, Mayo Clinic, Harvard Health, and the relevant specialty societies say nothing about it. Cleveland Clinic is the lone clinic to comment, and only cautiously — noting small studies suggest it 'may reduce fatigue' while stressing the evidence is sparse. Regulators stay neutral-to-wary: EFSA permits it as a supplement but approves no health claims, the UK NHS warns against unlicensed herbal products, and WHO/Health Canada require purification and heavy-metal testing. Contaminant risk (lead, arsenic, thallium) is the dominant safety theme, so unpurified, untested products should be avoided.
Scoring transparency
All scores computed by a 7-layer evidence engine — fully auditable▸View the full decision path (audit trail)
- compute_raw_score — 加權公式: L2×0.30 + L3×0.25 + L5×0.25 + L11×0.10 + L1×0.10 = 0.411
- tier_from_score — 依分數區間映射至 tier letter
- apply_hec_rules — 無高階證據可裁決
- tier_strict_requirement_check — Tier 條件達標，未降階
- detect_disputes — 偵測到 0 個 hard + 1 個 soft dispute
- decide_status — 依 tier + dispute 結果決定 status