SHILAJIT

Shilajit must be one of the most interesting natural remedies to come from Central Asia. It is certainly by far one of the least well known. That it has attracted so little attention does not reflect the enormous therapeutic potential of this pure, natural substance. Its profile has grown in the last few years, even in its homelands, as is evident in the increasing number of scientific studies being published. India, Pakistan, and Iran have all seen an increase in scientific efforts to explore the secrets of the effects of Shilajit. Attempts have been made through cutting-edge scientific methodology to pinpoint the healing powers attributed to it, but this natural substance is slow to surrender its secrets. Shilajit has had a somewhat mythical reputation for many years; it was difficult to obtain and problematic to deal with, given its somewhat idiosyncratic properties. The lack of standards in terms of identity, purity, and content (which persist to this day), coupled with the commercial interests of previous generations and political systems, resulted in many fakes and less effective, poor-quality products appearing on the market, which ultimately undermined buyers’ faith in its healing power over the long term. We first learned about Shilajit in Western Europe in the 1990s as it made its way here via two routes: the great wave of immigration from the states of the former Soviet Union at the start of that decade, followed by the popularization of Ayurvedic alternative therapy treatments at the end of the 1990s. Shilajit comes

treatments at the end of the 1990s. Shilajit comes from the Sanskrit and means “rock-overpowering,” while translated literally, Mumijo means “protecting the body from diseases,” and in Old Persian mum meant wax. The linguistic similarity of Mumijo to the word “mummy” has led to much confusion in Western Europe in particular.It has nothing to do with the infamous mumia vera aegyptiaca,1, 2, 3 a powder made from the ground, desiccated body parts of Egyptian mummies preserved with resin, asphalt, and extracts of cedar wood, used in traditional medicine to stop bleeding. Mumijo/Shilajit goes by different names in different linguistic regions, but most are descriptive, pointing to its outward appearance. It is described lit- erally as a kind of “sweat of the mountains.” In India it is known as Shilajit or silajatu, and in Ayurvedic medicine 4, 5 it has acquired the status of a Rasayana, an “elixir of life.”

According to Ayurvedic teaching, it energizes the vital juices, maintains youth, and revitalizes, featuring as an ingredi- ent in remedies for boosting vitality and physical condition by helping to maintain the delicate balance between the body’s various systems. In Myanmar it is known as kao-tun, the equivalent of “blood of the moun- tain,” and in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia as barachgschin, or “oil of the mountains,” Tibet, Mongolia, and the Transbaikal region call it brogschaun, or “mountain juice,” while Iran and Iraq have various names, including arakul dshibal, which translates as “mountain sweat.” It is called Mumijo in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and most of the Commonwealth of Independence States (CIS). In addition to Mumijo and Shilajit, the terms mineral pitch, bitumen, and asphalt are also widely used, with bitumen and asphalt having a secondary meaning as the petroleum products of the same name. In China and Tibet it is known as zha-xun.In the countries of Central Asia, ancient lore tells of Shilajit’s effective, if sometimes apparently mystical, healing power. Study of the scientific literature and ancient sources reveals that it was frequently combined with honey as a treatment, for both practical and therapeutic reasons. Honey is an effective way of masking its somewhat penetrating and aromatic flavor, and the therapeutic effects of honey itself are already well documented. This, of course, presumes that the finest quality honey is used, one that has not been heat-treated and is as natural as possible. The results for its use in combination with manuka honey, which is well known for its therapeutic properties, are particularly promising.

OSTEOPOROSIS

Osteoporosis (literally, “porous bone”) has become endemic and in some Western countries it is now the cause of more hospital admissions than heart attacks and strokes combined. Respected institutions have suggested that higher life expectancy means that in fifty years’ time at least twice as many people will be suffering from osteoporosis than today. The disease is relatively simple to describe but has catastrophic consequences for those affected. More calcium is eliminated from the body’s bone structure than is deposited, resulting in a continuous calcium depletion. Bones become more porous and break more easily. The structural stability and robustness of bones is diminished.

WHO IS AT PARTICULAR RISK?

Osteoporosis can affect anyone. Those at particular risk include preand post-menopausal women; the female sex hormones (estrogens) have a significant effect on the bone remodeling process, and a particular risk has been identified in women who have menstruated for fewer than thirty-five years. It is advisable to be aware of the risk of osteoporosis and take action in good time in order to help prevent it, perhaps discussing it with your doctor, who will advise on your specific risks and measure your bone density, if required. A bone density reading will indicate the degree of any calcium loss in your bones.

Recommended calcium intake for the body.

Increased requirement for calcium.