A Warm Welcome to Dr. Fotedar, PhD
Hailing from Wellington in New Zealand, Dr. Amita Fotedar has a PhD in Environmental Sciences and works as a research scientist in an international energy project with the United Nations Development Programme. Her detailed white paper covers research on fulvic and humic acid, the active ingredients in both Himalayan shilajit and in a purified Canadian supplement called AEON.
With more information constantly emerging on the health benefits of these precious organic acids, we’ve compiled an article to outline how you can begin to take advantage of fulvic and humic acid as a treatment for a range of everyday health conditions.
Main Benefits of Humic and Fulvic acids – the Key Ingredients in Shilajit and AEON
Shilajit is found primarily in the Himalayas, and has been known by the names moomiyo, mumie, mummiyo or mineral pitch in English. Shilajit is a blackish, sticky, tar-like material which has been a staple in ancient Ayurvedic medicine for hundreds of years. This is a safe and effective health tonic that boosts total mental and physical wellbeing.
Its impressive affects come down to the sophisticated way that nature has created it, over millions of years. The amazing combination of essential nutrients, humic and fulvic acids, amino acids, other useful organic acids, trace minerals, antioxidants and carbon-60 make for a potent and near-magical concoction that ranks it far above any other trace mineral supplement.
Shilajit has been shown to fortify bones and protect against osteoporosis, and furthermore, some research is showing it can function as an adaptogen. These are special compounds that are believed to amplify the body’s own defenses against stress, with a range of other benefits including higher energy levels and boosted libido (Agarwal et al, 2007).
Shilajit is packed with beneficial minerals along with fulvic and humic acid, making it a balanced blend of nutrients in ideal ratios. It’s simply one of the most effective natural health remedies known to man.
One of shilajit’s key components, fulvic acid, is brownish-yellow and demonstrates an impressive array of health benefits. Ayurvedic practitioners prize shilajit (and the fulvic and humic acid it contains) as nature’s perfect treatment for a whole host of health conditions (Wilson et al, 2011).
Thirteen ways shilajit can boost your health
Humic acid, fulvic acid and in general shilajit have many benefits for human beings. Shilajit is nutrient dense, and considered an effective cure-all in Ayurvedic medicine. This marvel can act as a restorer of energy, an adaptogen, and even an aphrodisiac. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits associated with its component bio-compounds, fulvic and humic acid:
- Improves digestion and the absorption of nutrients
Every metabolic process in your body depends on the presence of sufficient trace minerals and electrolytes. These are also essential for a healthy gut that can properly absorb nutrition. The fulvic acid found in shilajit enhances the gut’s ability to soak up nutrients from the digestive tract and into the bloodstream. By improving digestive health, symptoms like IBS, diarrhea, constipation, bloating and food sensitivities are eradicated (Schepetkin et al, 2009).
Fulvic acid not only increases the levels of nutrients you’re obtaining from food, but also improves the transport of all those essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals to where they’re needed. The result is not just improved digestive health, but greater wellbeing for the entire body.
Fulvic acid contains plenty of raw nutrients, but also helps to carry nutritious flavonoids, fatty acids, probiotics, ketones and trace minerals to the cells, and then improves cell wall permeability so that nutrition can be effectively taken up. Fulvic acid reduces inflammation all along the digestive tract, further decreasing the incidence of flatulence, constipation, diarrhea or general IBS.
Fulvic acid supplementation also has the advantage of being able to restore the ideal pH balance in the body. Both humic acid and fulvic acid can alkalize the body, stopping it from developing an over-acidic environment that is closely associated with many chronic diseases and conditions. These valuable organic acids help protect the body against pathogenic yeast strains, and other harmful microorganisms such as disease-causing bacteria. By feeding and protecting the human gut, fulvic acid helps keep hormones in optimal balance, as well as adding in appetite reduction and the management of stress (BNV et al, 2014).
- Enhances physical endurance
Humic acid in particular offers enormous benefits and can activate and energize an impressive range of biochemical processes all throughout the body. This is because humic acid contains powerful trace minerals, electrolytes and other nutrients. Fulvic acid can strengthen body cells to function healthily despite the effects of an unbalanced diet, oxidative damage, lack of quality sleep or high stress levels.
Those who take fulvic acid as a dietary supplement are found to enjoy enormous improvements to their energy levels, resilience to disease and overall well-being. In the former USSR, fulvic acid was even covertly used by the military to give Olympic athletes a competitive advantage, enhance their endurance levels and ensure they recovered more quickly from injuries (Vucskits et al, 2010).
- Potential use as an anti-inflammatory
Fulvic acid has been found to soothe inflammation. By working with the body’s own immune system, fulvic acid inhibits the creation and release of inflammatory molecules called interleukins and cytokine, thereby reducing inflammation.
Shilajit contains humic substances and fulvic acid that can actually modulate unbalanced mitochondrial function in the body. This ancient Ayurvedic remedy has the power to penetrate into the body’s cells, carrying essential nutrients to where they’re needed, as well as chelating toxic waste substances.
Healthy mitochondrial function means the body can produce its own antioxidants, for example glutathione and SOD, or super peroxide dismutase. These compounds work hard to protect the body against the damage and ultimately increase in inflammation levels caused by free radicals.
Fulvic acid can help the cell take up valuable vitamins and trace minerals, which are vital for ensuring the proper functioning of the immune system. Shilajit and fulvic acid contain an abundance of beneficial trace minerals such as magnesium, zinc and potassium. These can promote cell longevity, provide electrolytes that enhance cell permeability, and feed the cell with important nutrients.
These nutrients have profound effects all over the body, and can promote detoxifying processes, lower inflammation and curb oxidative stress in the GI tract, the heart, the muscles and even the brain (Winkler & Ghosh, 2018).
- Protects and heals the skin
Traditional use of fulvic acid focused on its ability to treat skin conditions such as poison oak or poison ivy burns, insect bites, and viral infections such as athlete’s foot. Traditional healers claim that the fulvic acid in shilajit can strengthen the immune response, combat pain, boost blood flow and reduce a person’ risk of contracting an infection.
Today fulvic acid is known to function as a skin protectant, and can be used successfully to treat wounds and scrapes, bug bites, eczema-related skin irritation and all kinds of skin rash caused by microbial or fungal infections.
A study in the Journal of Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigative Dermatology found that topical application of fulvic acid could improve eczema symptoms to a greater extent than other competing remedies.
When it comes to managing the signs of aging, fulvic acid is reportedly a star skincare ingredient, since it’s able to penetrate through all layers of the skin, replenishing its nutrients, forming skin texture and enhancing muscle tone in the face.
Fulvic acid can deliver an abundance of healthy skin nutrition, helping it to stay soft, supple and moisturized as well as combating wrinkles, aiding in the removal of waste products and moderating the effect of free radical damage to the skin.
Since fulvic acid has a slightly acidic pH of 3.2, it can actually be used as a cosmetic peel to encourage healing and boost radiance and glow in the skin. Fulvic acid acts to gently exfoliate, curbing redness and supporting skin cells to rejuvenate naturally.
Fulvic acid can neutralize and remove harmful toxins form the cells as well as carry vital nutrition into the cell membrane. This way, the cells’ own metabolism is supported, and inflammation is drastically reduced. The result is repaired wrinkles, and a brighter, more youthful and toned complexion. The natural electrolytes in fulvic acid also work hard to restore skin health and elasticity.
Fulvic acid is anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-viral and all round an ideal tonic to boost the skin’s total health and resilience. This means it’s suitable for everyone, no matter the skin type. Fulvic acid can easily be used alongside other daily skincare routines, and used any time.
Because of its all-round impact on the skin, it can also offer benefits for rosacea and acne sufferers. Because fulvic acid is so strongly antioxidant, it’s ideal for sensitive, aging or sun-damaged skins, as well as those with acne.
Acne is caused by pathogenic skin bacterial overgrowth that fulvic acid can address directly. Fulvic acid is an antimicrobial, so it’s an excellent way to reduce inflammation and destroy skin pathogens – not to mention supporting healthy skin bacteria which ultimately ensure a balanced, healthy skin microbiome (Schepetkin et al, 2003).
- Accelerates recovery and healing time
Fulvic acid has been found both to speed up exercise recovery times after exercise, and shorten healing time after injury or surgery. A surgeon from the University of Freiburg had planned to undertake a series of bone transplants in patients, but were required to use cattle bones due to the lack of alternatives available.
Understandably, the human body was found to be unable to absorb calcium from these bones, or interact with them in any way. Fortunately, fulvic acid proved useful. When the bones were treated with fulvic acid before transplant, it was observed that the patients’ bodies accepted the transplant and led to enhanced tissue growth and more complete recovery.
Similarly, shilajit has been found to support recovery after intense workout sessions for avid exercisers. When used regularly, fulvic acid has been observed to drastically dimmish symptoms associated with lactic acid build up in the muscles, as well as revitalize electrolyte levels and increase hydration (correcting water loss due to sweating).
A blend of shilajit and fulvic acid has been successfully used to help those with brain injuries. Several studies have been conducted using brain-damaged rats, concluding that shilajit reliably improved their conditions. Research is still ongoing, however, to determine whether results can be replicated in humans (Kunavue & Lien, 2012).
- Enhances detoxification processes
Many of the substances we are exposed to in our everyday lives are actually toxic ad cause damage to the body. Many grooming and skincare products are sadly not well-regulated and consequently we are exposed to a number of harmful chemicals simply by cleaning our homes or washing our faces.
Fortunately, humic acid can counter this. One of humic acid’s greatest functions is as a chelator and detoxifying agent. This means that humic acid is a natural form of chelation therapy, and can attach to and degrade heavy metals and toxins that come from our environment via our food, personal care products, water, prescriptions drugs and medicines, and even through pollution in the air.
Remarkably, humic acid can actually grab ahold of heavy metals and carry them to the liver where they can be properly metabolized and expelled from the body. Humic acid, in other words, can play a vital role in the way the body detoxifies itself from heavy metals.
Fulvic acid is naturally found in rocks and soil, but it can also be sourced from bodies of water such as streams, lakes or the ocean. Humic acids such as fulvic acid are typically found in ion complexes in the natural environment. These strong humic colloidal bonds are a boon for agriculture, as their detoxification powers can be used to filter water.
Humic acids also contain phenolates and carboxylate, which both act as natural chelating agents. Chelators essentially form helpful chemical complexes with various metals, moderating their bioavailability. Humic acid thus naturally regulates the amounts of copper, calcium, iron and magnesium both within the human body and the broader environment.
Various studies have suggested that fulvic acid has the power to attract and bind heavy metals such as copper and iron, which is particularly useful for detoxifying soils and water. Research has shown that humic acid can play this geochemical and aquatic processing function even at low concentrations, especially when compared to competing chemicals on the market (Chen, Senesi, & Schnitzer, 1978).
- Boosts energy and reduces pain
There are countless reports of fulvic acid’s ability to bolster mitochondrial function and enhance energy levels. The theory is that fulvic acid can lower inflammation, detoxify the body, and reduce oxidative damage, as well as improve the absorption of essential electrolytes, vitamins and minerals. As a result, organic humic substances such as fulvic acid act as natural electrolytes, energizing and enhancing almost every one of the body’s biochemical processes.
The mitochondria are organelles responsible for generating energy for the cell, which they create from nutrients, oxygen, and the electrons carried by both. The created energy is captured in a molecule called ATP, or adenosine triphosphate. This “energy currency” is then broken down all over the body to power every biological process, from digestion to blinking your eyes.
When fulvic acid-rich shilajit is consumed, the body gets a concentrated boost of the nutrients needed to feed and support the mitochondria, not to mention enhancing the absorption of oxygen. Fulvic acid encourages ideal cell electrolyte balance, which means a more optimal flow of electrons in the mitochondrial process of energy creation (Meena et al, 2010).
Ultimately, fulvic acid can allow the body to synthesize more energy and at a more rapid rate. The result is not just more energy, but reduced arthritic joint pain, headaches, chronic nerve pain, and bone and muscle pain – all associated with aging and mitochondrial dysfunction. The electrolytes in fulvic acid have been found in clinical trials to lower overall inflammation and swelling, improve blood flow through the body, and help tired muscles relax.
- May halt tumor growth
Research into colorectal tumors has found that fulvic acid supplementation can prevent a tumor both from growing and from attaching to the rest of the body. Even more impressive, fulvic acid has been observed to interfere with the NF-kB tumor pathway, mitigating its effects. Further research into this exciting area could help researchers understand how the NF-kB complex aids in the transcription of DNA, and how to interrupt the process that turns healthy tissues cancerous.
A characteristic of cancer cells is their unbridled and continuous growth along certain cell life cycle pathways. Eventually, cancer cells form a tumor. By regulating these pathways, however, fulvic acid may act to prevent cancer cell development and promote normal, natural cell death as seen in healthy cells. A 2017 paper suggested that fulvic acid also demonstrated this powerful effect on prostate, liver and colon tumors (Aydin et al, 2017).
*Important: Always consult your doctor. Fulvic acid should not be treated as a replacement for ongoing medical treatment or medication. Research studies can give insight into general trends, but cannot be used to treat tumors without the guidance of a doctor. Fulvic acid supplementation should not be considered a first-line treatment for those with tumors, since there is currently no official FDA approval for this application.
- Supports gut health and boosts the immune system
Many varieties of humic acid, including fulvic acid, are rich in nutrients that are particularly beneficial for the health of the digestive system, including electrolytes, pre- and probiotics, silica, fatty acids and a range of trace minerals.
These nutrients support the function of the gastrointestinal tract and encourage the proliferation of “good bacteria” – i.e. cultivate a healthy gut microbiome. When our digestive system is healthy, so is our immune system. The gut is intimately involved in the processes of neurotransmitter production, hormone regulation, stress management and much more (Swidsinski et al, 2017).
For hundreds of years, the traditional remedy shilajit has been used in Ayurvedic medicine, and it contains a high concentration of fulvic acid capable of healing the gut and enhancing the body’s immune response. Countless chronic diseases can disrupt gut health, causing leaky gut syndrome. This occurs when partly digested particles leak into the blood stream from a compromised gut lining, causing inflammation as the body’s immune system responds, leading to autoimmune conditions.
There are some anecdotal reports that fulvic acid can actually improve symptoms of SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), bowel inflammation and other bacterial infections, as well as help combat common colds and flus.
- Promotes muscle repair
Oxidative stress from free radicals can undermine the body’s own muscle repair processes. Fulvic acid, however, can help the body to restore and regenerate cells and tissues, as well as help eliminate toxins and speed recovery. It can increase the overall uptake of proteins and promote better digestion. These absorbed proteins are metabolized more quickly, meaning they release the vital amino acids needed to help muscle tissues repair and grow after exercise.
Finally, fulvic acid speeds the delivery of essential nutrients directly into muscle cells, where they can help alleviate lactic acid build up common after intense training. Overall, fulvic acid helps the body repair and replenish itself, cutting down on muscle soreness, shortening recovery times, boosting oxygen levels and overall improving athletic and training performance (Willis, 2015).
- Potential to extend life
Current international models of ageing focus on the central role of the mitochondria. These “powerhouses” are understood to be essential to modulating the immune system, balancing the effects of stress, and even determining the life cycle of each and every cell of the body. Mitochondria generate ATP for energy, but they’re also key in the creation of antioxidants – a process that diminishes with age.
As we’ve already seen. Fulvic acid is like a biological shield that defends against mitochondrial damage, feeding them all the nutrients they need to boost their energy-creating processes. The human lifespan is closely connected to the health of our mitochondria. There is no specific evidence proving that fulvic acid can increase our lifespan yet, but fulvic acid supplementation can certainly protect against mitochondrial damage (Cao, 2000).
- Could be used to treat Alzheimer’s Disease
Fulvic acid may be helpful for those with Alzheimer’s. This is a neurodegenerative condition characterized by the tangled buildup of malformed proteins in the brain, which literally strangle healthy neurons and interfere with their function.
The aggregation of this malformed protein causes so-called neurofibrillary tangles, which can affect cognition, leading to memory loss, dementia and the other symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease. Ordinarily, tau protein is essential for normal brain function, but when it folds up incorrectly, it creates shapes that cause neurons to coil and clump, interfering with the brain’s neuronal network.
In one interesting study. Fulvic acid was found to actually prevent this clumping (called aggregation), and even dismantle protein tangles. Investigations into this astonishing effect are still underway, but these are very encouraging findings that suggest that fulvic acid may have some therapeutic value for treating memory loss and neurodegeneration in general (Carrasco-Gallardo et al, 2012).
- Maintains ideal testosterone levels in both men and women
Testosterone is essential for muscle and bone development, brain function and the maintenance of energy levels, not just in men but also women. As we age, testosterone levels naturally decline, and this has been associated with weight gain, sexual dysfunction or libido loss, hair loss, loss of muscle and bone density, fatigue, impaired semen production, change sin mood and even sleep disorders (Pandit et al, 2016). Fulvic acid has been investigated for its effect at raising testosterone levels.
The Takeaway
Shilajit is nature’s own super-supplement, with humic and fulvic acid the key nutrients behind improved immune function and digestive/gut health. These powerful organic acids can boost immune health, protecting the health of the brain, detoxify the body, offset free radical damage, lower inflammation and pain, improve energy levels and enhance the health of the skin.
Fulvic acid can be taken in many different convenient forms, including liquid fulvic acid, tablets or pills or in the form of organic produce grown using fulvic acid. All in all, fulvic acid is a potent, universal supplement with a whole host of health benefits – with more interesting research questions emerging seemingly every day.
Many thanks to Dr. Fotedar for taking the time to review this article.
References
Agarwal, S. P., Khanna, R., Karmarkar, R., Anwer, M. K., & Khar, R. K. (2007). Shilajit: a review. Phytotherapy Research: An International Journal Devoted to Pharmacological and Toxicological Evaluation of Natural Product Derivatives, 21(5), 401-405.
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