Does Shilajit Increase Testosterone? The Trials

Possibly, in some men, though the controlled trial’s abstract doesn’t say by how much. One randomized, placebo-controlled trial in healthy men aged 45 to 55 reported higher total and free testosterone after 90 days of a purified shilajit extract, and a small uncontrolled study in men with low sperm counts reported a rise too. Both are single research groups using processed extracts, and neither shows that shilajit treats low testosterone.

This page covers only the testosterone question: what was measured, how much it moved, and what a lab-number change does and doesn’t mean. For the wider picture in men, see shilajit benefits for men.

Key Takeaways

• The strongest evidence is a 2016 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (Pandit et al.) in healthy men 45 to 55: 250 mg twice daily for 90 days, with higher total testosterone, free testosterone, and DHEAS than placebo.
• A 2010 uncontrolled study in 28 men with low sperm counts reported testosterone up 23.5% from baseline, but with no placebo group it can’t isolate a shilajit effect.
• A 2024 systematic review of 52 studies concluded that most “testosterone boosters” fail to raise total testosterone. It listed a purified shilajit extract as “possibly effective” in one group of men.
• As far as the abstracts show, none of these trials enrolled men with clinically diagnosed low testosterone, and none measured whether higher numbers changed symptoms.
• Low testosterone is diagnosed by symptoms plus repeated morning blood tests. A supplement can’t diagnose or replace that.
• Nothing we found supports the claim that shilajit increases penis size.

The 2016 Trial: What It Reported

The trial most pages point to is Pandit et al., published in Andrologia in 2016 (PubMed). It was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of purified shilajit in healthy volunteers aged 45 to 55. The dose was 250 mg twice a day for 90 days.

Per the abstract, shilajit “significantly (P < 0.05) increased total testosterone, free testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEAS) compared with placebo.” LH and FSH, the pituitary hormones that signal the testes, were “well maintained,” meaning they did not drop.

Two details matter. The abstract gives a significance level but no sample size or effect size, and we couldn’t access the full text to confirm either. Anything claiming a precise percentage rise from this trial without the paper in hand is guessing. Second, the men were healthy, with presumably ordinary baseline levels. That is a different question from whether shilajit helps a man whose levels are low.

The authors are affiliated with an Ayurvedic medical college in Kolkata. We found no declared industry sponsor in the abstract, but we could not read the funding statement.

The Other Human Data

The 2010 oligospermia study. Biswas et al. (Andrologia, 2010) enrolled 35 men with total sperm counts under 20 million per ml. They took 100 mg of processed shilajit twice daily for 90 days. Twenty-eight finished. Serum testosterone rose 23.5% from baseline (P < 0.001) and FSH by 9.4%. It was an open-label before-and-after design, so it can’t exclude regression to the mean or other changes in the men’s lives. It was also conducted partly by a group overlapping with the 2016 trial’s authors.

The 2019 strength trial. Keller et al. (JISSN, 2019) randomized 63 young men to 250 mg, 500 mg, or placebo for 8 weeks. The abstract reports muscle strength and a connective-tissue marker as its main outcomes, not testosterone, so it doesn’t answer this question.

The 2026 resin pilot. Yadav et al. (Cureus, 2026) listed total testosterone among secondary outcomes in a 25-man, 28-day, single-arm study. Per the open full text, total testosterone did not change significantly (394 to 383 ng/dL, -2.7%, p = 0.606), and four of six authors list the product’s maker as their employer.

The systematic review. Morgado et al. (International Journal of Impotence Research, 2024) reviewed 52 studies of 27 proposed boosters across four groups of men: athletes, men with late-onset hypogonadism, infertile men, and healthy men. Their finding: “most fail to increase total testosterone.” They rated a purified shilajit extract as “possibly effective” for men with late-onset hypogonadism. That wording is the review authors’ hedge, and it is not a recommendation to use shilajit for that condition.

Effect Sizes in Context

Study	Design	Population	Dose and length	What was reported
Pandit 2016	Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled	Healthy men 45-55	500 mg/day, 90 days	Higher total T, free T, DHEAS vs placebo; size not in abstract
Biswas 2010	Open-label, uncontrolled	28 completers with oligospermia	200 mg/day, 90 days	Total T up 23.5% from baseline; FSH up 9.4%
Morgado 2024	Systematic review	52 studies, 27 supplements	Varied	Most boosters failed; shilajit extract “possibly effective” in late-onset hypogonadism
Rizun 2026	Animal study	Wistar rats	Exploratory	Higher T in two samples; not a human result

The one number we can verify, 23.5%, comes from an uncontrolled study. The controlled trial’s magnitude is not in its abstract.

Total vs. Free Testosterone

Most testosterone in blood is bound to proteins, mainly sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and albumin. Total testosterone counts everything. Free testosterone is the small unbound fraction that tissues can use, and it is harder to measure reliably.

The Endocrine Society guideline (Bhasin et al., 2018) recommends fasting morning total testosterone as the first test, repeated to confirm. It recommends a free testosterone measurement when total is near the lower limit of normal or when something alters SHBG.

The 2016 trial reporting both is a point in its favor, since a total-only rise could reflect SHBG changes. But a rise in a lab value isn’t automatically a rise in anything you’d notice.

What “Increase” Means Clinically

A statistically significant increase says that a difference between groups is unlikely to be chance. It doesn’t say the difference is large, or that it crosses any clinical threshold, or that men felt different. Three questions to ask of any “boosts testosterone” claim:

1. From what to what? A rise within the normal range is a different thing from correcting a deficiency.
2. Compared with whom? Before-and-after changes without a placebo group are easily inflated.
3. Did anything functional change? The hormone trials above reported lab values, not energy, mood, erections, or muscle.

The Endocrine Society’s position is that a hypogonadism diagnosis requires symptoms and signs of deficiency plus unequivocally and consistently low testosterone on blood tests. A modest shift in a lab value in healthy men fits neither condition.

What a Normal Range Means

We can’t give you a single “normal” figure, and be wary of any page that does. Reference ranges differ between labs and assay methods, they vary with age, and testosterone fluctuates through the day, which is why guidelines call for morning samples. Your lab report prints the range its method uses. A number a little outside it, once, isn’t a diagnosis.

Other factors can lower the number, including obesity, poor sleep, some medications, and acute illness, and some of these are reversible. That is a reason to see a clinician rather than self-test with supplements.

Why a Supplement Can’t Diagnose Low Testosterone

Symptoms of low testosterone, such as fatigue, low mood, reduced sex drive, and poor sleep, are nonspecific. They also come from thyroid problems, depression, sleep apnea, and diabetes. Taking shilajit and feeling better, or not, tells you nothing about your hormone level.

If you suspect low testosterone, the sensible route is a doctor, two early-morning blood draws, and a workup of the cause. The Endocrine Society guideline also lists situations where testosterone therapy is not advised, such as planned near-term fertility, prostate cancer, or a palpable prostate nodule. Men in those groups should be especially careful about anything that might shift hormones and should discuss it with a physician first.

Limits of the Evidence

• Small samples. The best-documented trials involved dozens of men.
• One extract family. Most positive results used a processed or purified shilajit prepared by specific groups. A raw resin, a capsule, or a gummy may have different composition. See shilajit vs. fulvic acid for why composition varies.
• Overlapping authors and manufacturer ties. The Kolkata group wrote both main human studies, and some later work comes from product companies.
• No replication. We found no independent replication of the 2016 result in a larger population.
• Animal results. A 2026 Pharmaceuticals study (Rizun et al.) reported roughly 2.5-fold higher total testosterone in two shilajit samples in an exploratory follow-up. The first author is the founder and CEO of a shilajit resin company, the experiment was in rats, and the same abstract reports mild to moderate liver and kidney tissue changes. It’s not a basis for dosing a person.
• Contamination. Raw or poorly processed shilajit can contain heavy metals. See is shilajit legit and the dosage guide before treating any dose in these trials as a recommendation.

Related supplements are no better supported. Morgado’s review found that most of the boosters it covered failed to raise total testosterone, and the comparison with another popular option is on the shilajit vs. tongkat ali page.

Libido and “Size”: Separating the Claims

Libido. The hormone trials didn’t measure sex drive. The study often linked to libido claims is a 2013 rat tissue experiment (Kaur et al.) showing relaxation of isolated rat tissue, which isn’t a human outcome. We found no human trial with libido as an endpoint.

Size. There is no evidence that shilajit changes penis size, and no study we found measured it. A modest change in a blood hormone value is not a reason to expect a change in anatomy. If you have concerns about size or sexual function, a urologist or primary care doctor is the right person to ask.

FAQ

Does shilajit increase testosterone?

One placebo-controlled trial in healthy men aged 45 to 55 reported higher total and free testosterone after 90 days of a purified extract, and an uncontrolled study in men with low sperm counts reported a 23.5% rise. The evidence is limited, from a small research circle, and not enough to call shilajit a testosterone treatment.

Does shilajit raise free testosterone?

The 2016 trial reported higher free testosterone than placebo. The abstract doesn’t give the size of the change, and we found no independent replication.

Does shilajit increase size?

No evidence supports this, and no study measured it. Be skeptical of any product or page that says otherwise.

Does shilajit improve libido?

We found no human trial that measured libido. Claims usually extrapolate from rat tissue studies or from testosterone numbers that don’t map onto sex drive.

Can I take shilajit instead of testosterone therapy?

No. Therapy is a medical decision made after confirmed low levels and a check for causes and risks. Shilajit wasn’t tested as a replacement in any trial we found.

How would I know if my testosterone is low?

Through a doctor: symptoms plus repeated early-morning blood tests, interpreted against your lab’s reference range. Symptoms alone can’t tell you.

Bottom Line

Shilajit may raise testosterone in some men, based on one randomized trial and one uncontrolled study using processed extracts. That’s an interesting signal, not an established effect, and it says nothing about libido or size. If you’re worried about your levels, get tested; if you take shilajit anyway, use a batch-tested product and follow the dosage guide rather than marketing numbers.