You are not alone, who is wondering what type of shilajit is the real and best? The more you ask the question from the people, the more different answers you will get!!

After all, everyone has their own perspective; that is the reason we are writing a complete guide on all types of shilajit that will help you to understand the types of shilajit, how they influenced geographically and what kinds of shilajit you need to avoid.

It can be confusing for many people when it comes to an understanding of what type of shilajit is best?

Well, to spread accurate information on the topic and the differences between the forms of shilajit discussed in very detail below, from the geographic to the forms it comes in.

1. By geographical region

Shilajit found in the crack, caves, crevices of the mountain at very high altitude. The quality and differences of shilajit depend on the trace of mineral composition, purification method, and the region it extracted.

Despite all these differences, all types of shilajit have many similar properties when it comes to providing nutrients into cells and bolster overall health.

The best quality shilajit founds in the Himalayan and Altai ranges; both of these ranges stand tall at the highest altitude and steep in a rich cultural history.

a) The Altai Shilajit

The Altai is the most potent Shilajit; it has other names as well, such as Momiyo, Mumiyo, which means “to save the body” in the local language. It extracts from the Altai Mountains that span from the Gobi desert to the West Siberian Plain.

In the local areas around the Altai Mountains, Altai means “Golden.” These mountains border Russia and Mongolia but also linked with China and Kazakhstan.

Momiyo is the Russian shilajit. It is the most potent type of shilajit that is extracted from Siberia (Russia), where most of the gigantic mountain ranges have been untouched by people. Mountain ranges of altitude between 10000 to 14000 ft have an enormous source of Momiyo.

When summer hit these mountains, the water starts flowing and the mineral exudate from the rocks along with so many other organic substances and dissolves in the water. These naturals and enriched water then seep into the crevices or through rifts of the rocks that bed into mountainous caves.

Finally, water evaporates and leaves a raw Momiyo in the form of rich deposits.

The local people around the Altai mountain ranges use Momiyo as a traditional medical supplement. They extract the raw form of Momiyo from the rocks of the mountain and then purified naturally by using the mountain streams. It then kept in the low temperature and left to set to allow the large particles to rise at the top before drained off and then sieved to remove finer particles.

The last part of purification is drying, which is now mostly done using advanced technology to evaporate the moisture from the Momiyo by boiling method to speed up the process for maximum profit. And a result, they get either a resin, liquid, or powder of shilajit. However, it is not the best way of purification; the ancient and natural way of purification and to preserve minerals is sun drying. Today 99% of vendor evaporates the mixtures at controlled temperatures, but still the local of the villages around these mountain ranges using the sun drying method to evaporate moisture.

Altai shilajit, or Russian shilajit, or Momiyo is quite different than the Himalayan Shilajit because of its mineral compositions, altitude, and geological properties.

Altai shilajit considers more the less potent than Himalayan shilajit due to its altitude level; however, it is still one of the best forms and most commonly sold shilajit in the market.

The benefits of Russian shilajit/Momiyo are;

• increases the life span
• boost immunity
• good for bone fractures
• increase muscle and strength

b) Himalaya Shilajit

Himalayan Shilajit is the world’s famous and most potent Shilajit that are collected from the Himalayan Mountains. The process of collecting is much similar to Altai shilajit; the only differences are the altitude and cultural perspective.

The Himalayan Mountain lies to the south of Altai, bordering Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, and Northern India. The Himalayas have some of the world’s highest mountains, such as Mount Everest, which stands up to 29029 ft. The Himalayas shilajit usually extracting at 160000-190000 ft.

Himalayan shilajit plays a vital rule in Ayurvedic medicine; it has been used as a major substance to cure almost all diseases. It is still the most active substance in Ayurveda and Tibetan medicine.

Same as Altai, Himalayan shilajit can be seen oozing as a sticky exudate on the Himalaya mountain region in the summer. In Pakistan, the extracting and collection are much smilier to other parts of the world, but the only difference that makes it a potent substance is the purification method.

Although there many different methods when it comes to purification, the most common one is boiling. Boiling shilajit at a specific temperature is not the natural way to evaporate its moistures, but it also kills lots of nutrients. However, in Pakistan, our local teams only purify with a natural way to maintain its potency and preserved all its minerals, calcium, magnesium, potassium, other rich elements.

Four types of Himalayan Shilajit

Himalayan Shilajit is divided furthermore into four main types, the shilajit grading might be a bit confusing for many people, but let us explain very briefly.

So next time when you see the red/gold or black shilajit, don’t confuse by its color, these color lets us know about the minerals, its potency and the region where they were extracted from.

This shilajit grading system applies only to Himalayan Shilajit.

The four main categories of Himalayan Shilajit are;

• Black (iron)
• Silver (white)
• Copper (blue)
• Gold (red)

Copper and Gold shilajit are very rare to find, while the black is the most common one, available in the market.

Some of the researchers say, Gold and Copper shilajit is the best, but there are also a huge number of researchers that vouch for the Black shilajit. Either way, all types of Himalayan Shilajit have enormous health benefits. Ultimately, all kinds of pure shilajit are potent, mineral-rich, and good for health.

c) Other regions of shilajit

The Altai and Himalayas are not the only mountainous regions that contain shilajit, but you can also get a different quality of shilajit from almost all high altitude mountains.

Shilajit can also found in China, Japan, Europe, Australia, South Africa, Afghanistan, Venezuela, and many more that have high mountains. But, it is highly recommended that use either Altai or Himalayan Shilajit for the best result.

2. By form

After purification, the finished product of shilajit either as a resin, liquid, powder or capsules, depends on how much quantity of moisture removed during purification.

Let’s find out more about the pros and cons of every form and which one is best?

a) Shilajit resin

The resin looks like a sticky, smooth paste, which is blackish to dark brown. If you place it in your palm, you will feel a sticky effect due to warm temperature, while if you keep in the fridge, it will become solid brittle. Most people love to take shilajit in resin with warm water.

Shilajit resin considers as the purest form of shilajit because it goes through minimal processing, and it is also very easy to handle than the powder form.

Himalayan Shilajit mostly available as solid in the market while Altai shilajit can found in as resin form.

b) Liquid Shilajit

Liquid shilajit is a darker and shinier black color semi-thick fluid.  I love liquid shilajit; it is very easy to use, you can add to your favorite drink, milk, or even can take directly.

It is the freshest shilajit that extracts from rocks of the mountains, purified, and then come to the market. This is pure because just a little bit evaporation takes place in the purification method, and you get a 50% concentration of shilajit extracts. It means that most of the potent and natural minerals, enzymes, organic plant matters are still intact compared to powder or capsule form.

c) Solid Shilajit

It much similar to the resin one, but it is thicker less sheen, and more concentrated form. also becomes hard in the low temperature of the fridge and soft in the palm due to warmness.

Shilajit can dissolve in the warm water or any drink, but most people love to take a small amount of grain size and dissolve under their tongue.

This is the most common form of shilajit that used in Ayurvedic medicine as it is a bit more processed than the other form, and it dried for longer at specific temperatures. It contains the highest concentrations of minerals.

d) Powder Shilajit

Powder of shilajit comes in brown, amber, or black shades; it has gone through another degree of purification that is freeze-drying and to make a powder.

There are an enormous number of people who prefer to take powder of shilajit as a supplement as it is very easy to dissolve in any drink.

But it is quite challenging to find a reliable powder of shilajit, 95% of all powder which is available in the market is either in low-quality, or it is a false product made from throwing some minerals, humic elements, and fulvic acid.

This is also another reason why the power of shilajit also tends to very cheaper than other forms of shilajit.  Despite this, not only a real powder of shilajit is more competent than the solid one but also very easy to mix into smoothies, ointments, yogurt, etc.

To check whether the powder is real or not, take a small amount of powder and leave it,  expose in the air, and it must become solid within a couple of days. It should also dissolve entirely into the water without leaving any particles behind. If the color of the water turns into too black, bright orange or white, it should brown in color.

e) Shilajit Capsules

Shilajit Capsules contains the powder of shilajit, but this is not the best form of shilajit; it has less potency because it is tough to find authentic vendors that provide the real and good powders without adding further filler or binders.