These days, there are many known supplements that refresh, revitalize and effectively improve your overall health. Unarguably, one of the most effective ones is Shilajit. Its use can be traced back to cultures all over the world and has proven to be an active ingredient in making many traditional medicines throughout time. Having said that, Shilajit is considerably hard to find, as it’s both a rarity and an expensive ingredient.
Because of its effectiveness and popularity, it’s not surprising that the there is a high demand for this, as well as incredibly high prices. For this reason, it’s even less surprising that Shilajit is so appealing for counterfeiters. Different formulations of Shilajit such as nutrients, powders, capsules and fortified juices are being flooded into the market.
It’s a fact that Shilajit, in the US market alone, is one of the most counterfeited products. As much as 99% of the products that supposedly contain Shilajit actually don’t contain any at all.
The most common form of counterfeit Shilajit
While you can get Shilajit in many forms, powdered Shilajit is still the most common in the market. This is mainly due to the fact that it’s incredibly easy to fake and it can be used in different supplements such as pills and other formulations. The counterfeit versions only mimic the real form of Shilajit in appearance and not at all in its health benefits. What’s worse is that it actually can do your body more harm than good, as the counterfeit powders are commonly made up of powdered rock, soil or a mixture of both, instead of anything close to the herb itself.
Having mentioned the fact that the counterfeit Shilajit products contain such harmful contaminants, it’s not surprising that a closer look into what it’s made of reveals some scarier truths. The powdered rocks is said to contain traces of heavy metals and other impurities. These said impurities could build up in your body; causing a toxic cumulative effect the longer one consumes counterfeit Shilajit powder. This effect can be most observed in one’s kidneys, causing pain in that specific organ as early as after one week of use.
What makes the use of counterfeit Shilajit powder possible is the fact that manufacturers so freely advertise that their products contain fortified Shilajit, even without providing any information, data or control analysis that authenticates this claim. This is why purchasing products that claim to contain Shilajit in powder form almost guarantees that you will be getting a fake product.
Properties of genuine Shilajit
Shilajit in its true form actually comes with a tar-like consistency. It comes in a resin form because the process in which Shilajit is obtained is that its active resin carefully extracted rocks that bear Shilajit. To truly achieve a form of Shilajit resin that sustains the active components that one would want extracted, a scientific and incredibly precise procedure is followed. This ensures that the components in the resin stay in their active form.
Because counterfeit Shilajit powders are so rampant, many manufacturers that make use of genuine Shilajit have launched campaigns to increase awareness of the fact. One of the said manufacturers was Mumio Organics, a company whose campaign advocated getting the word out on counterfeit Shilajit and to check its fake forms.
This caused a brief drop in the sales of fake Shilajit powders, however counterfeiters were quick to fight this. Many came up with fake resin form to make their counterfeit Shilajit look more authentic.
A word to the wise
While it is true that products than contain Shilajit resin is incredibly good for one’s health, it’s important to do research products that claim to have the said herb. For example, Mumio Organics is a Shilajit resin that has been revolutionary in the way that it manufacturs highly potent resin with little to no contamination. So if you’re looking into consuming Shilajit for its great effects, remember to be a responsible consumer and be make a well-informed choice.
