Shilajit

Shilajit (Sanskrit: शिलाजित्) or shilajatu (शिलाजतु; lit. mountain/rock bitumen/lac), is an organic-mineral product of predominantly biological origin, formed at high altitudes on stony mountains, in sheltered crevices and caves. It is a blackish-brown powder or an exudate emerging between high mountain rocks, often found in the Altai Mountains, the Caucasus Mountains, the Himalayas (especially in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and the Tibetan Plateau), the Karakoram, the Pamir Mountains (primarily in Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan), and countrywise in Afghanistan, Bhutan, Georgia, India (regions of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand), Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Russia, Central Asia and Africa. People living in these areas use shilajit in folk and non-traditional (alternative) medicine (Ayurveda, Chinese, Tibetan). Shilajit is sold both in dry extract form and in dietary supplements, but there is limited evidence that shilajit has any beneficial effects on human health. Some sources have been found in studies to contain hazardous heavy metals, including lead.