What is
Shilajit? Where it is found?
Shilajit which is sometimes also pronounced as shilajeet or silajit or shilajitu is a thick mineral pitch found in the higher altitudes of mountains. Shilajit is a pale brownish to blackish brownish exudation of varying constituents found worldwide in sedimentary rocks of mountains. During summer months when the weather is hot in the mountains shilajit oozes out of the rocks. In India shilajeet is found in Himalayan mountains bordering Arunachal Pradesh to Kashmir and from Tibet and to Nepal. In Russia this mineral pitch is found in caucasian mountains, Ural mountains, Altai mountains (bordering Mongolia and Kazakhstan) and in China Shilajith is found in Yunann mountains and Kunming stone forest. The name Shilajit in sanskrit is split as "shila' meaning rock and "jeet" meaning victory literally meaning "winner of the rocks". In other local terms it is known as "Mountain sweat" "mountain blood" "shilaras - rock juice", "vajikaran - aphrodisiac" etc. In scientific texts it is known as Asphaltum Punjabinum. The yogis of India say that Shilajit makes the human body like a rock making it withstand the decay and destruction that comes with time and disease.
How is shilajeet formed?
Shilajeet is basically a concentration of plant life. The mountains around the world and particularly Himalayan mountain were home to rich vegetation and plant life. After their time the vegetation died and the nutrients were returned back to earth. These decayed plant life under the specific climatic conditions of the mountains and over hundreds of years formed the thick mineral pitch which is known as shilajit. the source of Shilajith is historic plant life. The formation of various nutrients in shilajit particularly fulvic acid and the ionic minerals (which are easily absorbed by body cells) make silajit truly a wonder health supplement.
Discovery of Shilajit
In modern times Shilajit was discovered by British explorers in Himalayan mountains sometime around 1860's. They found the monkeys in the Himalayan regions eating some substance from the rocks. It was later found to be shilajit. It was also noted that the monkeys in the Himalayan region seemed to age very slowly as was noted from their skin texture and hair as compared to normal monkeys.
Purification of Silajit
The raw shilajit mined form the rocks cannot be taken as such. Traditional purification of shilajit as done by ayurvedic doctors was to water wash the raw shilajit several times and filtered to remove the water insoluble impurities. the filtrate is concentrated by direct heating by fire or by keeping the filtrate under direct sunlight. The creamy layer which is thus formed in the heating process is skimmed several times to get pure shilajit. However modern methods of shilajit purification used advanced techniques of pulsated water cleansing, reverse osmosis (separating shilajit through semi permeable membrane) , vaccum filtration and freeze drying. In free drying the moisture and water contents are separated from shilajit at a lower temperature itself. Subjecting shilajit to higher temperature during purification process could destroy some of the nutrients. the modern purification methods take this into consideration and uses freeze drying process.
Shilajits odor and taste
Raw Shilajit as such does not seem to have any fixed taste or odor. It depends on the place where it is harvested. Raw shilajit could have salty or pungent taste. However when purified could be odorless and tasteless.
Shilajits constituents
Shilajit was found to contain fulvic acid, humic acid, albuminoids, Di benzo alpha pyrones, chemo proteins, macro minerals like potassium, chlorine, sodium, calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, zinc, iron, manganese, copper iodine, selenium, moybdenum, sulfur, cobalt, nickel, chromium, fluorine, boron, strontium, silicon, vanadium etc. These minerals are in ionic form. These minerals have already been absorbed and assimilated by rich vegetation and plant life. They have been returned back to earth after their time. These minerals in shilajit have high bio availability and are easily absorbable by body cells. Many of these minerals are found in trace quantities in parts per billion range. Though these trace minerals like chromium, vanadium etc. are not used directly by the body they are vital for many biochemical processes in the body. They act as a catalysts for various types of enzyme formation. Fulvic acid is another major constant of shilajit. It is found in humus in the soil. It's main function is to transport the nutrients particular minerals to the plants from the soil. In mammals fulvic acid plays the main role of transporting the minerals deep into the cells. Fulvic acid seems to have that unique capacity to dilate and permeate the thick cell walls so as to transmit the minerals into the cells.
Benefits of Shilajeet
Shilajit is traditionally used as a panacea for many illnesses in the Ayurvedic system of medicines. It is specifically advised by the traditional ayurvedic and yogic practitioners to boost stamina, vigor, energy levels, vitality, immunity and to prolong life. The Ayurvedic medical practitioners called shilajit as the Maharasa or super vitalizer. The yogis of India attributed Shilajit to many magical and mystical properties. On seeing the way shilajit helped people they termed it as an Amrit or nectar (elixir) of long and healthy life. Ancient Indian texts as old as 2000 years mention of shilajit. Some of the ailments where Shilajit was recommended by ayurvedic doctors for the treatment of diabetes, anemia, wound healing, allergic disorders, hemorrhoids, spleen enlargement, liver diseases, epilepsy, renal calculi, gastro intestinal disorders, sexual dysfunction, prostate hypertrophy, genito urinary disorders, debility (physical and cerebral) and geriatric problems. There has been a couple research reports done as recent as 2010 which shows that Shilajit could be beneficial in the management of Alzheimer's disease and even HIV infection.
Shilajit as Mumiyo or Moomio
Though Shilajit was predominately used by Indian ayurvedic practitioners and yogis there are many substances which are similar to shilajit (i.e.) mineral pitches found in mountains. Such substance was Myemu in Russia, mummie in Germany, mumio or momio in Persia (Iran) and Hajar -ul- musa in Arabic. It was said that the legendary invader Chengiz Khan used to take mumio for himself and the top leaders of his army used it. In Russia it is known as Mumiyo or Mumijo. It is found in the Altai mountains, parts of ural mountains and mountains bordering Iran Technically mumiyo and Shilajit could be similar. Mumiyo was widely used by Russian army operating in extreme climates. Worldwide the popular name for this mountain mineral pitch is Shilajit. By Shilajit we refer to the the mineral pitch found in Himalayan mountains.
Fulvic acid
Silajit has evoked great interest among scientists as many of the beneficial properties do seem to be true to some extent. Studies were done as early as 1920's to analyze the contents of Silajit. Shilajeet was found to contain as much as 80+ minerals in highly bioavailable ionic form, di benzo alpha pyrones and Fulvic acid. The fulvic acid in shilajeet has evoked a lot of interest. Fulvic acid is a type of humic acid. Humic acid is a principal component of humic substances, which are the major organic constituents of soil. It is formed by the bio degradation of dead organic matter. Humic acid is not a single acid but it is a complex mixture of many different acids containing carboxyl and phenolate groups. While humic acid is the general term fulvic acids are essentially those humic acids which are of lower molecular weight and higher oxygen content. Fulvic acids are poly-electrolytes and have an unique property to diffuse easily through membranes. This property of fulvic acid is important as a nutrient because they are able to penetrate easily through the thick cell walls and transport the nutrients. Fulvic acid is available only in nature and many attempts to artificially synthesise fulvic acid have failed.
Humic substances in soils and sediments can be divided into three main fractions: humic acids, fulvic acids, and humin. Humic substances are formed by the microbial degradation of dead plant matter, such as lignin. They are very resistant to further bio degradation. The precise properties and structure of a given humic substance sample depend on variety of conditions including location, climate, altitude, age, method of extraction etc.. Nevertheless, the average properties of humic substances from different sources are remarkably similar. There are functional differences between humic acids, humins and fulvic acids. Humin is insoluble in dilute alkali. Gray humic acids (GHA) are soluble in low-ionic-strength alkaline media; brown humic acids (BHA) are soluble in alkaline conditions independent of ionic strength. But fulvic acids (FA) are soluble in all conditions independent of pH and I. This is another property of fulvic acid that makes it very useful in mammals.
While fulvic acids can be extracted from various natural resources the fulvic acid in Himalayan shilajit is considered the best. It is because of several reasons including the clean climatic conditions of himalayas, freezing low temperature, high altitudes, formation of humic substance over centuries, rich vegetation etc. The processing of raw shilajeet to increase the concentration of fulvic acid is also very vital. Raw silajit when harvested could contain as little as 10% fulvic acid. Modern processing methods are capable of increasing this concentration to as much as 60% using various chemical engineering techniques like water jet pulsation, vacuum filtration, reverse osmosis, freeze drying (whereas water/moisture is evaporated at a much lower temperature itself), pulverizing etc. Shilajeet is highly hygroscopic (i.e.) it will absorb large amount of moisture from air. Hence the processed shilajit which is in powdered is normally encapsulated. This ensures the preservation of fulvic acid concentration.
While shilajit fulvic acid can be taken in any form taking it after meals along with milk seems to be the option. Milk can be cow or soy.
Shilajit which is sometimes also pronounced as shilajeet or silajit or shilajitu is a thick mineral pitch found in the higher altitudes of mountains. Shilajit is a pale brownish to blackish brownish exudation of varying constituents found worldwide in sedimentary rocks of mountains. During summer months when the weather is hot in the mountains shilajit oozes out of the rocks. In India shilajeet is found in Himalayan mountains bordering Arunachal Pradesh to Kashmir and from Tibet and to Nepal. In Russia this mineral pitch is found in caucasian mountains, Ural mountains, Altai mountains (bordering Mongolia and Kazakhstan) and in China Shilajith is found in Yunann mountains and Kunming stone forest. The name Shilajit in sanskrit is split as "shila' meaning rock and "jeet" meaning victory literally meaning "winner of the rocks". In other local terms it is known as "Mountain sweat" "mountain blood" "shilaras - rock juice", "vajikaran - aphrodisiac" etc. In scientific texts it is known as Asphaltum Punjabinum. The yogis of India say that Shilajit makes the human body like a rock making it withstand the decay and destruction that comes with time and disease.
How is shilajeet formed?
Shilajeet is basically a concentration of plant life. The mountains around the world and particularly Himalayan mountain were home to rich vegetation and plant life. After their time the vegetation died and the nutrients were returned back to earth. These decayed plant life under the specific climatic conditions of the mountains and over hundreds of years formed the thick mineral pitch which is known as shilajit. the source of Shilajith is historic plant life. The formation of various nutrients in shilajit particularly fulvic acid and the ionic minerals (which are easily absorbed by body cells) make silajit truly a wonder health supplement.
Discovery of Shilajit
In modern times Shilajit was discovered by British explorers in Himalayan mountains sometime around 1860's. They found the monkeys in the Himalayan regions eating some substance from the rocks. It was later found to be shilajit. It was also noted that the monkeys in the Himalayan region seemed to age very slowly as was noted from their skin texture and hair as compared to normal monkeys.
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The raw shilajit mined form the rocks cannot be taken as such. Traditional purification of shilajit as done by ayurvedic doctors was to water wash the raw shilajit several times and filtered to remove the water insoluble impurities. the filtrate is concentrated by direct heating by fire or by keeping the filtrate under direct sunlight. The creamy layer which is thus formed in the heating process is skimmed several times to get pure shilajit. However modern methods of shilajit purification used advanced techniques of pulsated water cleansing, reverse osmosis (separating shilajit through semi permeable membrane) , vaccum filtration and freeze drying. In free drying the moisture and water contents are separated from shilajit at a lower temperature itself. Subjecting shilajit to higher temperature during purification process could destroy some of the nutrients. the modern purification methods take this into consideration and uses freeze drying process.
Shilajits odor and taste
Raw Shilajit as such does not seem to have any fixed taste or odor. It depends on the place where it is harvested. Raw shilajit could have salty or pungent taste. However when purified could be odorless and tasteless.
Shilajits constituents
Shilajit was found to contain fulvic acid, humic acid, albuminoids, Di benzo alpha pyrones, chemo proteins, macro minerals like potassium, chlorine, sodium, calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, zinc, iron, manganese, copper iodine, selenium, moybdenum, sulfur, cobalt, nickel, chromium, fluorine, boron, strontium, silicon, vanadium etc. These minerals are in ionic form. These minerals have already been absorbed and assimilated by rich vegetation and plant life. They have been returned back to earth after their time. These minerals in shilajit have high bio availability and are easily absorbable by body cells. Many of these minerals are found in trace quantities in parts per billion range. Though these trace minerals like chromium, vanadium etc. are not used directly by the body they are vital for many biochemical processes in the body. They act as a catalysts for various types of enzyme formation. Fulvic acid is another major constant of shilajit. It is found in humus in the soil. It's main function is to transport the nutrients particular minerals to the plants from the soil. In mammals fulvic acid plays the main role of transporting the minerals deep into the cells. Fulvic acid seems to have that unique capacity to dilate and permeate the thick cell walls so as to transmit the minerals into the cells.
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Shilajit is traditionally used as a panacea for many illnesses in the Ayurvedic system of medicines. It is specifically advised by the traditional ayurvedic and yogic practitioners to boost stamina, vigor, energy levels, vitality, immunity and to prolong life. The Ayurvedic medical practitioners called shilajit as the Maharasa or super vitalizer. The yogis of India attributed Shilajit to many magical and mystical properties. On seeing the way shilajit helped people they termed it as an Amrit or nectar (elixir) of long and healthy life. Ancient Indian texts as old as 2000 years mention of shilajit. Some of the ailments where Shilajit was recommended by ayurvedic doctors for the treatment of diabetes, anemia, wound healing, allergic disorders, hemorrhoids, spleen enlargement, liver diseases, epilepsy, renal calculi, gastro intestinal disorders, sexual dysfunction, prostate hypertrophy, genito urinary disorders, debility (physical and cerebral) and geriatric problems. There has been a couple research reports done as recent as 2010 which shows that Shilajit could be beneficial in the management of Alzheimer's disease and even HIV infection.
Shilajit as Mumiyo or Moomio
Though Shilajit was predominately used by Indian ayurvedic practitioners and yogis there are many substances which are similar to shilajit (i.e.) mineral pitches found in mountains. Such substance was Myemu in Russia, mummie in Germany, mumio or momio in Persia (Iran) and Hajar -ul- musa in Arabic. It was said that the legendary invader Chengiz Khan used to take mumio for himself and the top leaders of his army used it. In Russia it is known as Mumiyo or Mumijo. It is found in the Altai mountains, parts of ural mountains and mountains bordering Iran Technically mumiyo and Shilajit could be similar. Mumiyo was widely used by Russian army operating in extreme climates. Worldwide the popular name for this mountain mineral pitch is Shilajit. By Shilajit we refer to the the mineral pitch found in Himalayan mountains.
Fulvic acid
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Silajit has evoked great interest among scientists as many of the beneficial properties do seem to be true to some extent. Studies were done as early as 1920's to analyze the contents of Silajit. Shilajeet was found to contain as much as 80+ minerals in highly bioavailable ionic form, di benzo alpha pyrones and Fulvic acid. The fulvic acid in shilajeet has evoked a lot of interest. Fulvic acid is a type of humic acid. Humic acid is a principal component of humic substances, which are the major organic constituents of soil. It is formed by the bio degradation of dead organic matter. Humic acid is not a single acid but it is a complex mixture of many different acids containing carboxyl and phenolate groups. While humic acid is the general term fulvic acids are essentially those humic acids which are of lower molecular weight and higher oxygen content. Fulvic acids are poly-electrolytes and have an unique property to diffuse easily through membranes. This property of fulvic acid is important as a nutrient because they are able to penetrate easily through the thick cell walls and transport the nutrients. Fulvic acid is available only in nature and many attempts to artificially synthesise fulvic acid have failed.
Humic substances in soils and sediments can be divided into three main fractions: humic acids, fulvic acids, and humin. Humic substances are formed by the microbial degradation of dead plant matter, such as lignin. They are very resistant to further bio degradation. The precise properties and structure of a given humic substance sample depend on variety of conditions including location, climate, altitude, age, method of extraction etc.. Nevertheless, the average properties of humic substances from different sources are remarkably similar. There are functional differences between humic acids, humins and fulvic acids. Humin is insoluble in dilute alkali. Gray humic acids (GHA) are soluble in low-ionic-strength alkaline media; brown humic acids (BHA) are soluble in alkaline conditions independent of ionic strength. But fulvic acids (FA) are soluble in all conditions independent of pH and I. This is another property of fulvic acid that makes it very useful in mammals.
While fulvic acids can be extracted from various natural resources the fulvic acid in Himalayan shilajit is considered the best. It is because of several reasons including the clean climatic conditions of himalayas, freezing low temperature, high altitudes, formation of humic substance over centuries, rich vegetation etc. The processing of raw shilajeet to increase the concentration of fulvic acid is also very vital. Raw silajit when harvested could contain as little as 10% fulvic acid. Modern processing methods are capable of increasing this concentration to as much as 60% using various chemical engineering techniques like water jet pulsation, vacuum filtration, reverse osmosis, freeze drying (whereas water/moisture is evaporated at a much lower temperature itself), pulverizing etc. Shilajeet is highly hygroscopic (i.e.) it will absorb large amount of moisture from air. Hence the processed shilajit which is in powdered is normally encapsulated. This ensures the preservation of fulvic acid concentration.
While shilajit fulvic acid can be taken in any form taking it after meals along with milk seems to be the option. Milk can be cow or soy.
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1 comment:
Nice detailed description about shilajit.
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