Shilajit is a dark, sticky resin that seeps from rock faces in high-altitude mountain ranges, including the Himalayas. It forms over a very long period from compressed plant material and carries fulvic acid along with a broad range of trace minerals.
Authentic shilajit is sold as resin. Powders, capsules and gummies are processed forms that usually contain far less of the raw material per serving, and are often blended with fillers.
Shilajit is a food supplement in the UK and may help support general wellbeing as part of a balanced diet. It is not a medicine and does not treat or cure conditions.
Shilajit is an exudate: over a very long period, compressed plant material trapped between rock layers breaks down and, in warm months, seeps out of cracks in the rock face as a dark, sticky mass. Because the surrounding rock contributes to what ends up in the resin, its mineral profile varies by region and altitude.
The material collected at higher altitude is generally denser and less contaminated by agricultural and industrial run-off, which is why altitude is quoted so often. Ayor resin is hand-harvested in Gilgit-Baltistan at around 16,000 ft during a short summer window.
Because composition varies between batches, a single generic analysis quoted across every jar is not meaningful. Ayor publishes results per batch at /purity-data.
Resin is the traditional form and the only one with nothing else in the jar. Powder is normally resin spray-dried onto a carrier such as maltodextrin, so part of every gram is carrier. Capsules add the same carrier plus a shell and typically hold a fraction of a normal resin serving. Gummies add sugar, pectin and flavouring, with a token amount of shilajit each.
For a like-for-like comparison, work out the cost per gram of actual shilajit rather than the price of the pack. /shilajit-resin-vs-powder-vs-gummies breaks the forms down side by side.
A fuller walkthrough with the common counterfeits is at /how-to-tell-if-shilajit-is-real.
Shilajit comes out of rock, so the safety question that matters is heavy metal content: lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium. Every Ayor batch is tested by Eurofins Food Testing UK Ltd (UKAS 0342) for those four plus microbiological safety, with identity work supported by BECS Analytics (ISO/IEC 17025).
The certificates are published in full at /lab-results and the numeric figures per batch at /purity-data, with no email required to open them.
The usual serving is a pea-sized portion, roughly 300-500mg, dissolved in warm water, milk or tea once a day, most often in the morning. A 20g jar gives roughly 40-50 servings.
Shilajit is a food supplement and may help support general wellbeing as part of a balanced diet. It is not a medicine, it does not treat or cure conditions, and it is not suitable for anyone pregnant, breastfeeding or under 18. Anyone on medication should speak to a healthcare professional first.
Shilajit is a dark, sticky resin that seeps from rock faces at high altitude, formed over a very long period from compressed plant material. It carries fulvic acid and a broad range of trace minerals and is sold in the UK as a food supplement.
Authentic resin tastes earthy, bitter and slightly smoky. A sweet or neutral taste usually indicates a blended or flavoured product rather than pure resin.
The main safety question is heavy metal content, which is why independent testing matters. Ayor batches are tested by Eurofins UK for lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium and microbiological safety, with results published per batch. It is not suitable for anyone pregnant, breastfeeding or under 18.
Resin, because it contains no carriers, sweeteners or capsule shells, so the weight in the jar is the weight of shilajit you are buying.
A pea-sized portion of roughly 300-500mg dissolved in warm water once a day is the usual serving. Shilajit may help support general wellbeing as part of a balanced diet.