Does shilajit help with altitude sickness?

Shilajit is sometimes packed for trekking trips with the promise that a “Himalayan” remedy will help you cope with thin mountain air. It’s an appealing story, since shilajit is collected from rocks at altitudes of roughly 1,000 to 5,000 metres. But we searched PubMed for studies of shilajit and altitude, hypoxia (low oxygen) or mountain sickness and found no experiment in people or animals.

Altitude sickness can become life-threatening. This is an area where an untested remedy can do real harm if it gives false confidence. We grade the evidence as none.

Where does the altitude claim come from?

From a single 2010 article that proposed the idea without testing it. Researchers at an Indian defence research field station in the Himalayas wrote a short review titled “Shilajit: A panacea for high-altitude problems” (Meena et al., 2010). It argued that shilajit could help soldiers and travellers with acute mountain sickness, fluid on the lungs (HAPE), swelling of the brain (HACE), insomnia, tiredness and poor appetite.

When we read the full text, we found:

• No new experiments. It is a narrative review, not a study.
• Its sources are mostly traditional and general. It cites classical Ayurvedic texts, herbal books and studies on unrelated effects such as stomach ulcers or anxiety in animals.
• No study of altitude. As far as we can tell, none of the evidence it cites tested shilajit in people or animals at altitude or in low-oxygen conditions.
• Some reasoning is risky. For example, it suggests shilajit’s supposed diuretic action could remove fluid from the lungs or brain. Nobody has tested that, and HAPE and HACE are medical emergencies.

The article’s title calls shilajit a panacea. A more critical review a year later concluded that shilajit’s bioactivity “lacks substantial evidence” (Wilson et al., 2011).

Is there any indirect evidence?

Only at a stretch. Two findings sometimes get linked to altitude, but neither tested it:

If anything, the second finding cuts against the idea that shilajit improves oxygen delivery through the blood.

Do any supplements work for altitude sickness?

The research on supplements is a useful warning. Nitrate supplements have a plausible mechanism and have been tested in randomised trials. A 2024 meta-analysis of seven trials found that nitrates did not reduce mountain sickness symptoms, and at rest at real altitude they made the fall in blood oxygen saturation slightly worse, by 2.64% (Nafi’an et al., 2024). A plausible idea is not enough; it needs testing, and shilajit hasn’t had any.

What does help with altitude sickness?

Slow ascent and knowing when to go down. The NHS says altitude sickness usually happens above 2,500 metres and that you can’t get it in the UK. Its advice includes:

• travel or climb slowly, and spend a few days below 2,500 metres before going higher
• above 3,000 metres, try not to sleep more than 500 metres higher than the night before, and have a rest day every three to four days
• avoid going from below 1,200 metres to above 3,500 metres in one day
• don’t drink alcohol, and drink enough water
• if you have symptoms, rest at the same altitude and don’t go higher until they’ve gone
• if symptoms get worse or don’t improve after a day, go down 300 to 1,000 metres

Get medical help and descend straight away if someone is confused, has trouble with balance, is breathless at rest, coughs up frothy or bloody spit, or is very sleepy. If you’ve had altitude sickness before or are going high quickly, the NHS suggests speaking to a GP or travel clinic, who may prescribe medicine to help prevent it.

Is shilajit safe to take on a trek?

There’s no specific reason to think it’s dangerous at altitude, but nothing has been studied. The usual cautions apply: quality varies, raw products can contain heavy metals, and trying any new supplement for the first time on a mountain is best avoided. See side effects and heavy metals.

For the related claim that shilajit fights tiredness, read energy and fatigue, and for its iron content, see iron and anaemia. The benefits overview grades every claim.